On July 27, 2023, Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria sent the list of ministerial nominees to the National Assembly. One of the nominees whose screening was widely anticipated is Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna state.
On July 1, El-Rufai appeared before the Senate and spent more than 30 minutes answering questions from the senators. During the screening, one of the senators had a petition to tender against the ministerial nominee while several others had questions to ask him. In an attempt to address the petition, the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio interjected El-Rufai and reiterated that petitions will not be treated at this stage of the screening. He therefore instructed the nominee to take a bow and exit the chamber.
Few hours after the screening, the former senator representing Kaduna central, Sheu Sani appeared on Arise News Morning Show to speak on the Labour protest against the hike in fuel price due to subsidy removal . Asked about his view on El-Rufai’s ministerial nomination and the entire screening process by the 10th Senate, the former Senator alleged that El-rufai is a law breaker with no respect for rule of law. He said “He has a history of consistently disobeying court orders and has no respect for rule of law….. He demonstrated that as an FCT minister.”
In another instance, he said “In Kaduna state, he has jailed more than 3 to 4 journalists when he was a governor.”
Claim I
El-Rufai consistently disobey court orders and have no respect for the rule of law
Verification:
Nasir Elrufai became the governor of Kaduna in 2015 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Between 2015 to 2023, having served for 8 years, we found several news reports that the El-Rufai-led administration disobeyed several court orders.
In May 2021, the family of Sani Abacha, the former military leader of Nigeria, cried out over the action of Nasir El-rufai in mobilizing equipment to clear the site of the demolished Durbar Hotel despite a court order restraining him and government agencies from demolishing the hotel.
In October 2022, traders and shop owners at Kasuwan Barci, Tudun Wada area of Kaduna metropolis trooped to the street, asking the State governor, Nasir El-Rufai to obey court order by paying them compensation over their demolished shops and markets.
This protest became necessary after the Kaduna State High Court in September 2022, ordered the El-Rufai led- government to adequately compensate the shop owners.
To this end, the affected shop owners called on the government to respect the constituted authority by obeying the court order.
In August 2020, the Nigerian Bar Association withdrew the invitation it had earlier extended to El-Rufai to speak at the 2020 Annual General Conference of the NBA slated for August 26-29, 2020. Part of the reasons for withdrawing the invitation was because “since 2015 to date El-Rufai has been flagrantly disobeying court orders; disregarding and abusing the rule of law; adopting a nonchalant attitude to the monumental carnage in Southern Kaduna; threatening people whom he feels are opposed to him.”
Verdict: TRUE
We found news reports that showed that on several occasions, the El-Rufai-led administration disobeyed court orders and engaged in acts tantamount to the abuse of rule of law.
Claim II
The ministerial nominee jailed more than three to four journalists when he was Kaduna’s governor.
Verification:
The CDD War Room found that on April 28 2016, the El-Rufai led government ordered the arrest of Jacob Onjewu, a Kaduna-based journalist. The journalist was alleged to have written an inciting story that the governor, Nasir El-Rufai, was pelted with stone in Agwan Gado, a suburb of Malali axis in Kaduna North LGA.
The Kaduna-based journalist was invited by the Kaduna police command and was remanded in custody without option of bail. He was however granted bail after spending seven days in detention.
On November 14, Mohammed Bashir Saidu, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Kaduna reported Segun Onibiyo, a Kaduna based broadcaster with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) to the Police. On November 23, 2018, he was arrested by the Kaduna police command over alleged incitement, defamation of character and injurious falsehood against the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
On December 12, 2018, after spending days in detention, he was granted bail in the sum of N2 million bond and a reliable surety in like sum.
On May 8 2019, Steven Kefas was arrested in Port Harcourt and driven to Kaduna where he was detained by the Kaduna State Investigation Bureau for more 150 days. He was eventually granted bail in the sum of N100,000 and two sureties.
ALL WE KNOW
We found that no journalist was sentenced to jailed during El-Rufai’s governorship in Kaduna state. However, there are several news reports showing that the government on his watch detained at least three journlsists even after they were granted bail by the judges.
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