El-Rufai Warns Against ‘Dangerous Descent Into Lawlessness’ in Kaduna Politics

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday faulted the police directive stopping a scheduled meeting of African Democratic Congress (ADC) leaders in the state, arguing that the move breached constitutional rights.

According to PUNCH Online, the police action came in the wake of last Saturday’s attack on an opposition event, where hoodlums armed with cutlasses, clubs, and stones disrupted the inauguration of a transition committee in Kaduna. The violence, which targeted leaders of the ADC, PDP, SDP, NNPP, and LP coalition, left several people injured and property damaged.

Critics slammed security operatives at the scene for failing to act, a development El-Rufai described as a “dangerous descent into lawlessness.” He stressed that political gatherings held within the law must be allowed to take place without interference.

Speaking at a press conference at his Kaduna residence on Thursday, El-Rufai said the meeting was meant for the ADC North-West leadership to commiserate with members over last Saturday’s attack by suspected thugs on party members.

“The plan was that the ADC leadership in the North-West are in Kaduna to commiserate with us over the incident of Saturday. And we were going to have that visit in our office.

“The police commissioner wrote to say that we can’t hold it in the state,” he explained.

He accused the police of overreaching their powers, claiming that the state Commissioner of Police obtained a court injunction stopping the meeting without properly serving it on the affected persons.

“He knows what he’s writing violates the Constitution. This morning, he invited the national vice chairman, North-West, and waved a piece of paper claiming they had obtained a court order stopping us from having that meeting. We have not seen the court order.

“It has not been properly served on us. Even if there is a court order, there is a legal process to serve an affected person, and it has not been served on us”, El-Rufai said.

He, however, noted that party leaders chose to respect the police commissioner’s position despite the alleged irregularities.

“As responsible leaders, we had the choice of going there to have our meeting. Nobody can stop us; we are within our constitutional rights.

“But we decided that even though we have not seen the order, we believe the commissioner of police. Because we don’t believe the commissioner of police could be lying”, he stated.

El-Rufai added that the decision to hold the press briefing at his private residence was to avoid confrontation with security agencies, noting that he had not lived in the house for 15 years, as it was under renovation.

El-Rufai said community leaders chose to respect the police officer’s claim of a court injunction but insisted they had yet to receive any formal document. He stressed that they would examine the injunction once served and were prepared to contest its basis up to the Supreme Court.

He cautioned that the issue would not simply fade away, suggesting looming legal action.

“This is far from over; more will follow,” the former governor warned.

Attempts to get a response from the Kaduna Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Mansir Hassan, proved abortive as calls and messages went unanswered.