Former presidential adviser, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has criticized the continued detention of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, describing him as a political prisoner.

In a post shared on his X account, Baba-Ahmed said the situation surrounding El-Rufai’s detention had grown beyond the state’s determination to keep him in custody without a trial or conviction.

He argued that the development was damaging public confidence in the rule of law and undermining accepted standards of justice and fairness.

 

“Nasir el-Rufai’s saga is assuming a character far bigger than the determined insistence by the State that he must remain locked up, without being tried and/or sentenced.”

Baba-Ahmed further maintained that keeping the former governor in detention without due legal process sends the wrong message about respect for the law.

 

“It is making a mockery of the rule of law and all standards of decency. El-Rufai is now a political prisoner.”

His comments are coming after plea by the family of El-Rufa’i, reminding the Tinubu administration that they do not deserve the treatment they are getting.

 

The former governor’s first wife, Hajiya Asiya had mentioned that they campaigned for the APC during the 2023 polls, and detaining El-Rufa’i was unjust.