Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has claimed that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) enlisted operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest him upon his return to Nigeria.
There was mild tension on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport when security operatives attempted to detain the former governor after he arrived from Cairo, Egypt.
Earlier, his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, had alleged that security personnel approached el-Rufai shortly after he disembarked but he refused to follow them because they did not present a formal invitation.
In an interview with the BBC published on Friday, el-Rufai recounted that DSS officials approached him at the airport and requested that he accompany them for a meeting.
According to him, he demanded a written invitation before complying.
“El-Rufai said he asked the DSS operatives for a letter of interview and they informed him they will show him when they come out of the airport.”
The former governor further alleged that a large security presence had been mobilised because of him.
“We walked towards the immigration counter and they (DSS operatives) said I should give them my passport for them to go and do…. I said, ‘no, I always do my immigration biometrics’. I went there, did that and walked out,” he said.
“Two more senior people came and said they are from the DSS and they wanted me to go to their office. I didn’t know whether they have an office at the airport or they meant the headquarters.
“All I asked for is a courtesy of a letter of invitation. That is what I believe I am entitled to as a Nigerian. They did not have a letter.
“Subsequently, we learnt that it was ICPC that procured the DSS to do the abduction. I was supposed to be abducted by the DSS and taken to ICPC.”
Responding to critics who questioned why he would fear arrest if he had nothing to hide, el-Rufai said his concerns were rooted in what he described as growing authoritarian tendencies.
“I’m afraid of tyranny, undemocratic practices and people that don’t understand that in a democracy, the executive is not all-in-all,” he said.
“There is a legislature that should be allowed to function, which has not been allowed to function. There is a judiciary that is supposed to be independent, which is being procured and weaponised against the opposition.”
Prior to the airport incident, el-Rufai had publicly suggested he might face a politically motivated arrest upon his return to the country.
Meanwhile, two of his associates — Jimi Lawal and Amadu Sule — are currently standing trial on charges of alleged fraud and money laundering filed by the ICPC.
