Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai in Airport Standoff With Security Operatives After Predicting Possible Arrest
Tension erupted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday following reports that security operatives attempted to arrest former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, immediately upon his return to Nigeria from Cairo, Egypt.
Eyewitnesses and aides to the former governor said the situation degenerated into a heated confrontation involving travellers, airport workers and security personnel, with confusion over whether operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were behind the attempted arrest. As of press time, there was no official confirmation from either agency.
El-Rufai’s media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, alleged that the former governor declined to accompany the operatives because no formal invitation had been presented to him. According to Adekeye, the operatives subsequently seized El-Rufai’s international passport from one of his aides during the encounter.
“As he arrived, security agents approached him, but Malam El-Rufai declined to follow them without a formal invitation. They, however, snatched his international passport from an aide,” Adekeye wrote on social media.
Sources said the former governor had returned to Nigeria to honour what he believed was a formal invitation, making the reported attempt to detain him more controversial. Travellers and airport workers were said to have intervened as the situation escalated, leading to a brief standoff before El-Rufai was allowed to leave the airport.
The incident comes just a day after El-Rufai, in an interview with BBC Hausa, predicted that he might soon be arrested. He claimed that some of his associates in Kaduna had already been detained and suggested he could be the next target.
“Four people we worked with in Kaduna have been arrested; so it’s only a matter of time before they come for me too,” he said in the interview.
El-Rufai, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has in recent months become increasingly critical of President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the leadership of the APC. He has also alleged that opposition figures are facing political pressure to either align with the ruling party or risk investigation and arrest.
In an earlier defiant statement, the former governor said he would only honour a properly communicated invitation from authorities. “Nobody, not even the President, can tell me I have to do anything. If you want to invite me, you can write formally,” he had said.
The development has drawn comparisons with the ongoing prosecution of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who has also denied allegations against him and described his case as politically motivated.
Political analysts say the reported airport confrontation, if confirmed, could heighten concerns about the country’s political climate amid ongoing defections and realignments ahead of future elections.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Federal Government, the APC, the DSS and the EFCC had yet to issue any official statement on the alleged attempt to arrest the former governor or the reported seizure of his passport.
