Former Minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung has said that former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai made a wrong move by turning himself in to security agencies ahead of his trial, explaining how, why, and what led to the situation during a media interview.
He spoke in an interview aired on Trust TV on Tuesday, where he claimed that authorities had first tried to arrest El-Rufai at an airport but were unsuccessful. According to him, the government was worried about the former governor and feared his possible reaction, which led to the initial attempt to take him into custody.
Dalung said the plan to arrest him directly did not work, and authorities later reconsidered their approach because they believed it could lead to unrest. He then stated that El-Rufai later chose to present himself to the authorities, a decision he believes worked against him.
He explained that in political struggles, giving oneself up could lead to embarrassment, adding that those seeking to detain a person tend to act more carefully when they face difficulty in doing so. He maintained that surrendering too early can weaken a person’s position in such situations.
However, Dalung later gave a different view, saying the former governor’s action could also be seen as a calm and calculated step. He said presenting himself early may have stopped authorities from fully preparing a case before taking him into custody.
He added that after taking El-Rufai in, agencies allegedly did not have clear charges ready and began looking for possible offences to press against him. He also claimed that the case may not lead to any strong outcome because of how it started.
El-Rufai was arrested again by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on February 18 shortly after he was released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which had earlier detained him for two days over corruption claims.
On Tuesday, he was brought before a court over allegations linked to inflated severance payments and long-term foreign currency deposits in his bank accounts. The case involves claims of N579.7 million in severance payments and about $817,900 said to have been kept in his domiciliary account over time.
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