How ICPC tried to use DSS to abduct me at Abuja airport – El-Rufai

 

Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, has alleged that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) directed operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest him on his arrival in Nigeria.

A brief drama occurred on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja when security operatives reportedly attempted to detain el-Rufai after he returned from Cairo, Egypt’s capital.

Muyiwa Adekeye, the former governor’s media aide, said operatives approached el-Rufai shortly after he disembarked but he refused to follow them because there was no formal invitation.

In an interview with BBC published on Friday, el-Rufai said DSS operatives met him after he stepped off the plane and asked him to come for a meeting at their office.

He said he demanded a letter of interview, but the operatives told him it would be shown to him outside the airport.

The former governor claimed that about 50 security operatives were at the airport 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 comments questioning why he was afraid of arrest, el-Rufai said his concern was about undemocratic practices.

“I’m afraid of tyranny, undemocratic practices and people that don’t understand that in a democracy, the executive is not all-in-all,” the former governor 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.”

Before the airport incident in Abuja, el-Rufai had said he feared a politically motivated arrest on his return to Nigeria.

Two of his associates — Jimi Lawal and Amadu Sule — are currently facing ICPC charges over alleged fraud and money laundering.