𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐓

…A Tribute to His Excellency Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai on His 200th Day of Unlawful Incarceration

By: Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥.

𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

There is a distinct and agonizing tragedy in watching a political warrior brought low not by his enemies but by the very men he fought to place in power.

Today marks exactly 200 days since His Excellency Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai was confined in the cold and unforgiving cells of state detention.

For 200 days, a man who redefined urban governance and whose fierce intellect and raw courage helped build the foundations of the current ruling order, has endured what his supporters regard as a calculated and deeply vindictive campaign of state-sponsored persecution.

To survey Nigeria’s current political landscape is to witness profound ingratitude and an extraordinary betrayal of trust. The very architects of his present ordeal now enjoy the fruits of a political victory that might not have been possible without the stubborn and unyielding defiance of Nasir El-Rufai.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝

When history records the turbulence of the 2023 presidential election cycle, El-Rufai’s name will appear among the frontline figures who confronted what became widely described as the “Aso Rock Cabal.”

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭: When a powerful faction within the then presidency sought to impose a northern consensus candidate and deny the South its turn, El-Rufai stood in the gap, While others hesitated he helped rally the Northern APC governors, took the argument directly to the Presidential Villa and pressed for a formal declaration that power should shift to the South.

At a decisive moment, he helped clear the political path when Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition appeared threatened by forces within his own party.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧: Who can forget the chaos caused by the Central Bank’s currency redesign policy only weeks before the election? To many within the APC, the policy threatened to provoke public anger, cripple campaign activity and damage the party’s electoral prospects.

While several governors limited themselves to cautious public statements, El-Rufai took the extraordinary political step of joining the legal challenge against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court. He openly opposed a sitting President’s national broadcast and urged Kaduna residents to continue accepting the old notes, seeking to shield citizens and the APC’s voter base from economic paralysis.

𝐔𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬: He went on national television and despite the risks of confronting the state establishment, declared that elements within the Presidential Villa were working against their own party’s candidate. He became a shield, a bullhorn and an intellectual anchor for the campaign.

At international forums such as Chatham House, he defended the Muslim-Muslim ticket and helped persuade a sceptical northern electorate to support the party’s candidate.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥: 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

200 Days in the Wilderness How has this extraordinary loyalty been repaid? Not with honour or with the respect due to a political ally and kingmakers but with a degrading, multi-agency legal siege that appears designed to break his spirit. The sequence of events unfolding before us does not resemble the impartial administration of justice.

To his supporters, it represents the weaponization of the state for the settlement of political scores. What began with the denial of ministerial confirmation on the basis of undisclosed “security clearances” has escalated into a succession of investigations and proceedings.

El-Rufai has been drawn into matters involving the EFCC, ICPC and DSS, confronting overlapping allegations ranging from financial claims connected to unexecuted rail projects to an allegation of “unlawful phone interception” involving the National Security Adviser.

Whatever the formal explanations, the cumulative effect creates the appearance of a coordinated political offensive rather than an ordinary legal process. Some of the political beneficiaries now presiding over Kaduna State have also joined the fray through proceedings before the State High Court. Rather than acknowledge the political foundation they inherited, they repeatedly invoke disputed figures concerning El-Rufai-era state debts as an excuse for their own failure to govern with competence and imagination.

Even when the courts granted him bail, the goalposts appeared to shift, leaving him trapped in a web of changing conditions and parallel legal proceedings. More troubling are the allegations contained in his fundamental rights suits that his wife and son were prevented from visiting him and that his access to family, proper medication, and food was temporarily restricted.

The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria has also publicly cautioned the government against the appearance of political persecution and called for respect for the rule of law. MURIC and several concerned civil society actors and organisations have also echoed this call.

𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠:
Those in power today must remember that power is transient. To deploy the combined weight of the ICPC, EFCC and DSS against a man who took enormous political risks for their ambition sends a chilling message to every ally still serving them: 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

Malam Nasir El-Rufai is a man of flaws, as all mortals are. But his supporters do not believe that the allegations of contract inflation or unlawful surveillance explain the intensity of the campaign against him. In their view, his true offence was possessing an independent mind, an uncompromising voice and the audacity to expect honour among men who regard loyalty merely as a disposable ladder.

On this sombre 200th day of what we regard as his unlawful and unjust incarceration, we do not mourn El-Rufai; we mourn the death of political conscience in Nigeria. Malam will survive this crucible, as he has survived previous political exiles. But history will remember those who orchestrated his fall as men who ate the harvest, burned the farm and locked up the farmer. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭.

Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba
ADC National Vice Chairman,
North-West Zone writes from Kaduna