Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Federal Government to provide clear information about the detention of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai amid reports of health complications and limited access to his family and legal representatives.
Atiku issued the call in a statement released on Tuesday following reports about El-Rufai’s detention and conditions in custody.
The former governor was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and has since been held by anti-graft and security agencies.
In his statement, Atiku said the Federal Government “owes Nigerians clarity” on which agency is holding El-Rufai and urged disclosure of whether it is the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the State Security Service, or another arm of the security establishment.
Atiku described the situation as a “matter of grave concern to his family, friends, and associates” and stressed that detention conditions should uphold safety, dignity, medical care and access to family and lawyers as guaranteed by the constitution.
The statement followed allegations by Muyiwa Adekeye, media aide to El-Rufai, that the former governor suffered a nosebleed during custody and that his wife was prevented from delivering his meal directly to him, with access complications reported for his legal team.
Adekeye said El-Rufai was interrogated and later granted administrative bail but remained in detention while his legal team sought variation of bail conditions.
He also said no remand order authorising detention beyond 48 hours without charge had been shown to the family or lawyers, and that El-Rufai was transferred without prior notice from EFCC custody to the ICPC.
Atiku warned that “secrecy in matters of detention only fuels suspicion” and said Nigerians deserve transparency about which agency is responsible for El-Rufai’s custody.
He said that the agency responsible has a “constitutional duty to guarantee his safety, dignity, access to medical care, and access to his family and legal representatives.”
He said anti-corruption efforts must not become political tools and that justice should be transparent, evenly applied and guided by the rule of law “without fear, without favour, and without political bias.”
Atiku added that selective prosecution creates perceptions of partisanship and said that “the continued detention of El-Rufai under unclear circumstances raises serious questions about motive.”
