Media aide to former Vise President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has once again raised the alarm over the plight of former Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai, saying that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain has spent 178 days in detention.
Ibe in an X post on Thursday stated that el-Rufai has been politically persecuted for daring to pull away from President Bola Tinubu whom he supported in the 2023 polls.
He further alleged double standards in the handling of political cases citing embattled Senator Francis Fadahunsi who he said is “walking freely and yet-to-be arrested after calling on members of his own party to kill members of the Accord.”
He pointed out that some All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains who had similar corruption allegations as El-Rufai were walking free and shared pictures of ex-governors Yahaya Bello and Ifeanyi Okowa.
“Even as el-Rufai is being detained, high profile members of Tinubu’s APC who are standing trial for corruption were cleared and are running for election.
“What other evidence do you need to prove that Tinubu is fighting a war against the OPPOSITION and not CORRUPTION,” he added.
This is not the first time Ibe has spoken on the length of el-Rufai’s detention.
“It’s political persecution behind the facade of a fake trial,” he said, noting that as of July 9 the former governor had been in custody for 144 days.
Earlier, he pegged the figure at 126 days, claiming that the Tinubu-led APC administration was “harassing and intimidating el-Rufai for having parted ways with the APC”.
Ibe had also alleged that Tinubu was bent on keeping him till after the 2027 elections and described the bail conditions granted el-Rufai as “too punitive and meant to keep him perpetually in detention”.
El-Rufai is also facing separate criminal trials brought by the Federal Government.
He is being prosecuted in Abuja by the Department of State Services (DSS) on allegations of alleged phone wire-tapping and cybercrimes and by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) on allegations of financial fraud and money laundering involving multi-billion naira.
He has been in detention since Feb. 18.
