Nigeria must outgrow executive overreach, El-Rufai speaks on airport incident
Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai condemned an attempted illegal arrest at Abuja airport, citing concerns over executive overreach and rule of law.
Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State, has publicly denounced what he described as an unlawful attempt by security personnel to arrest him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja upon his return from Cairo, Egypt. He took to social media to express his outrage, claiming that the action represented a troubling instance of executive overreach and a blatant disregard for legal protocols and citizens' rights. El-Rufai's statement was backed by his legal team, which referred to the attempted arrest as illegal due to the absence of a warrant or formal invitation to detain him.
El-Rufai's media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, corroborated the incident, stating that security agents approached El-Rufai directly at the airport with no prior notice or legal justification. This incident raises significant concerns about the treatment of citizens by state authorities and highlights the broader issues of governance and accountability in Nigeria. El-Rufai's condemnation of the incident calls for a critical examination of the powers exercised by security agencies and their impacts on democratic principles.
As Nigeria continues to grapple with issues related to governance and the rule of law, El-Rufai's statements resonate as a demand for a shift away from autocratic practices towards a more democratic framework where the rights of individuals are upheld. Such a public declaration from a prominent political figure might stimulate necessary discussions about the balance of power within the Nigerian government and the importance of respecting due process as a cornerstone of democracy.