The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has alleged that the All Progressives Congress, APC, plans to keep former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai, in custody until after the 2027 general elections.
The allegation was made on Thursday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Abdullahi said the ADC is not opposed to the prosecution of anyone with a legitimate case to answer but expressed concern over what he described as stringent bail conditions imposed on El Rufai.
He said: “ADC is not opposed to anybody who has a legitimate case to answer from being prosecuted but when you are holding someone in custody for bailable offences and you proceed to arraign that person and make impossible conditions for bail to meet, it creates room for us to believe that you deliberate intend to hold this person in perpetuity.
“What I can tell you is that the thinking within the ADC is that the APC government has concluded that they will not release Mallam Nasir El-Rufai until after the election.
“That’s what we believe, that’s the plan, and that’s what they plan to do. They know that with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai freed, the opposition is stronger and they know that if they release him, he would remind them of certain things that they would rather forget.
“We in the opposition believe that they are doing everything to make sure that El-Rufai remains in custody until after the election.”
Abdullahi maintained that the opposition’s position is based on its belief that El Rufai’s continued detention could have political implications ahead of the 2027 general elections.
