Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said he has yet to decide whether he will contest the presidency, dismissing the controversy surrounding an alleged attempt to arrest him at the Abuja International Airport as part of a broader political struggle linked to his perceived 2027 ambition.
Speaking in an interview on Arise News on Friday, El-Rufai said the real issue was not the airport incident but what he described as “a sustained campaign of political persecution” amid speculation about his future political plans.
“I’ve not decided if I’m running for president or not,” he said. “But clearly, there are people who think I am, and they are acting accordingly.”
His comments came a day after security operatives moved to detain him upon arrival from Cairo, in an incident that has since triggered fierce political controversy.
Recounting the incident, El-Rufai alleged that about 50 operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were deployed to detain him without presenting a warrant.
“Well, I came out of the plane, and a young man that is well-dressed with a nice suit came to me and said, ‘I am from the DSS, Department of State Services. I would like to meet with you in our office.’ I said, ‘That’s fine. Where is the letter of invitation?’ He said, ‘My bosses have it. I will escort you to them.’ I said, ‘I’m going through immigration. I have to do that. Just get me the letter.’”
He continued:“So he said, okay. But I noticed that as I started going, more and more people came out… Apparently, they had moved about 50 DSS operatives to the airport with the specific instructions that I should be detained, I should be abducted and detained.”
El-Rufai said he refused to follow the officers without a formal letter.
“They said, ‘We are from the DSS, sir, we are going this way. We need to go to your office.’ I said, ‘I’m not going to your office. I’m not going anywhere until you show me a letter of invitation.’”
“I said, ‘Even the president cannot tell me I have to do anything. It’s a free country, it’s a democratic country, and I don’t have to do anything that I do not wish to do.’”
According to him, after his passport was stamped by immigration, officers allegedly attempted to seize it.
“They came up with a second scam, ‘Where is your passport?’ I said, ‘It’s just been stamped.’ … One of my aides quickly took it away from me… That’s the aide that got beaten up and they seized the passport from him.”
He added: “If I had the passport with me, I would not be talking this.”
El-Rufai warned that such actions risk eroding public trust in security agencies.
“Once people begin to lose confidence in the neutrality of such institutions, we are on our way to anarchy.”
Clarifying earlier reports, El-Rufai insisted that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was not responsible for the airport incident.
“I want to say very clearly, it wasn’t the EFCC, okay? It was the DSS. But the DSS were procured to abduct me by the ICPC.”
He said the EFCC had written to him while he was abroad, requesting a meeting.
“The EFCC had written to me while I was away and said, ‘We would like to have a chat with you over certain issues.’ And I replied… that I’m on my annual vacation. Once I know the date of return, I will let you know.”
“We have written to EFCC to say that I will celebrate my birthday with you. My birthday is 16 February. I will celebrate my birthday. I will come and see you at 10am on the 16th.”
He alleged that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had instead procured the DSS to detain him.
“This is a modus operandi of the ICPC that increasingly has become a personal tool of Nuhu Ribadu. Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody yesterday.”
Pressed on how he knew this, he said: “He made the call because we listened to their calls… The government thinks they are the only ones that listen to calls. But we also have our ways.”
He added that the ICPC eventually delivered a formal invitation letter to his residence.
“Now that you’ve written an invitation, you’ve had the courage to write an invitation, we’ll honour the invitation.”
El-Rufai described the investigations against him as a continuation of earlier political persecution.
“I have 16 years’ record of public service and I have challenged every Nigerian that has worked with me or knows me to come forward and expose me if I’ve ever taken a bribe or demanded a bribe or done anything unlawful.”
He referenced his book, The Accidental Public Servant, detailing past investigations under a previous administration.
“In this latest round of persecution… they have investigated me since June 2023 in Kaduna and have come up with nothing.”
“They have arrested my former Chief of Staff, my Commissioner of Finance, my Commissioner of Local Government… They have tried to pin things on them. They have charged them to court. Most of the charges are frivolous and I’m quite confident they will lose.”
Boluwatife Enome
