The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of deliberately keeping former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai in custody to weaken the opposition ahead of the 2027 general election.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the allegation during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, insisting that while the ADC does not oppose the prosecution of anyone with a legitimate case to answer, it believes the handling of El-Rufai’s case suggests a political motive.
Abdullahi argued that the continued detention of the former governor despite facing bailable offences had strengthened the opposition’s suspicion that the government intended to keep him in custody until after the next election.
“We are 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 continue to arraign that person and continue to set conditions for bail that are almost impossible for this person to meet, it creates room for us to believe that you deliberately intend to hold this person in perpetuity,” he said.
He added, “The thinking within the ADC is that the APC government has concluded that they will not release Malam Nasir El-Rufai until after the elections. That’s what we believe.”
