Politics
Tinubu’s govt planning to arrest me, El-Rufai alleges
Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past Kaduna State governor, has claimed that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) is gearing up to arrest for speaking out against the federal government.
The former governor made the allegation in a message posted on his X account on Tuesday.
An X user, @IU_Wakilii, who is a known supporter of Mr El-Rufai, had floated the rumour in a post.
“I am reliably informed that there is a plan to arrest (not invite) Mallam Nasir el-Rufai if he comes back to Nigeria, with another concocted allegation as usual,” the handle stated.
In a reaction to the post, the former governor “corroborated” the claim, adding that there is secret plot put him in the same dungeon where former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was kept.
“I have been hearing these same rumours of arrest, detention and torture in some dungeon in the NSA’s office (where Emefiele was allegedly tortured to resign as CBN governor) since July 2024, when the so-called report of the Kaduna Assembly began circulating,” Mr El-Rufai stated.
El-Rufai has been at loggerheads with the Tinubu administration since being denied a role in the government.
He was nominated by the president in 2023 as a minister but was later dropped after failing to pass the Senate confirmation process over alleged security concerns.
Observers believe that the former governor’s inability to pass the screening was due to internal power struggles within Bola Tinubu’s government.
Beyond national politics, Mr El-Rufai’s relationship with his successor, Uba Sani, has also deteriorated.
