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Asia Muhammad Ahmad
@asiaahmad
Born to make a difference!
Abuja
Joined March 2011
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Today exactly 150Days @elrufai in detention
"The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened." @UN_HRC @ecowas_cedeao @amnestyusa @Mediapart @FranceONUGeneve @realDonaldTrump @Trial @EmmanuelMacron @VanguardAfrica where’s the Justice? #freelrufai
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai, lawyer, and wife of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai:
The continued imprisonment of outspoken politician and Tinubu critic shines a spotlight on ‘lawfare’ in Nigeria
I've interviewed presidents, governors, generals, activists and politicians. But sometimes it's the interviews with the families left carrying the emotional burden that stay with you.
A few days ago, I interviewed the lawyer Asiya El-Rufai, wife of former Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai. She spoke with the precision of a legal expert and the pain of a spouse.
She didn't ask me to defend her husband. She didn't ask Nigerians to take sides. She spoke instead - quietly but powerfully - about constitutional rights, due process, access to lawyers and doctors, and the emotional toll prolonged detention takes on a family.
It reminded me that behind every politically charged courtroom battle is a human story.
Whatever anyone thinks of Nasir El-Rufai politically, one truth remains: the rule of law only has meaning when it protects people whose politics we may disagree with. That is why due process is not a favour. It is the foundation of democracy.
Power is temporary. The legal precedents we tolerate today may become the standards - and the nightmare - we all live under tomorrow.
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. It is making a mockery of the rule of law and all standards of decency. El-Rufai is now a political prisoner.
Who to follow
#Nigeria
"Each day @elrufai remains incarcerated sends a warning to Nigerians who wish to speak truth to power: that dissent can be dangerous, principle can be costly, and silence may be safer than principle and conscience."
https://t.co/xRpUSfduw1 @VanguardAfrica
As the saying goes, “There is no power on earth that can prevail against a man whom Allah has chosen to elevate.”
You know it’s a total waste of fighting he whom Allah has blessed, because you are never going to win. Even the smoking gun you thought you had to get him will ultimately work to his advantage. As Allah says in the Qur’an, “And Allah is the best of planners.” (Qur’an 8:30)
@elrufai 139 Days in Detention. 1 would have thought that would be enough to erase somebody who is very relevant from the political scene, talk more of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, whom you all remind us every day is “irrelevant.” Unfortunately for you, the facts are saying otherwise. Indeed, facts are stubborn.
Yesterday, it was a leaked audio, which nobody knows where it emanated from. Then a letter, and today it’s medical reports. Isn’t that an overstretch, especially for somebody you have kept in detention for 139 days, and whom you all claim is irrelevant? Why are you sweating?
Indeed, Allah is amazing, and truly Allah is not unjust to His loyal servant.
FALLE DAYA CE IN SHA ALLAH
@AAD_EL_Rufai Indeed why the sweat?
While people in government create full-staffed agencies that do not exist and receive salaries and budgets and walking freely in their agbada, an innocent Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is detained because he dared to question what they are doing.
WELCOME TO NADECO’s Nigeria!
I remember this encounter between me and Deji Adeyanju.
Activist or Cashivist it doesn’t so far the “VIST” is there!
@IU_Wakilii The more you see the less you understand.. Democracy day 😋
The Blueprint Of The Cage: What Today's Hearing Means For Every Future Leader
By Ibrahim Nuhu Saidu
Look at the courtroom today. Do not just see a man in a dock. See a factory. A factory that manufactures political exclusion. This is not just a trial. This is a rehearsal. The state is showing us exactly how to eliminate a rival. And the terrifying part? They are doing it in broad daylight.
We make a fatal mistake. We look at the case of Malam Nasir @elrufai and think it is an isolated event. We think it is about one man. One set of allegations. One political feud. This is a dangerous illusion. It is not about him. It is about the template. It is about the blueprint. The state is drawing a map. It is showing every future leader exactly how the trap is built.
Study the steps. First; the invitation. It comes with a smile. Then comes the unnecessary detention. The media is tipped off. The headlines are written before the charges are filed. The narrative is set. Next comes the impossible bail. The conditions are designed to be unmeetable. Then come the endless adjournments. The file is missing. The witness is sick. The judge is going on annual leave and he's busy. The clock ticks. The spirit breaks. This is not justice. This is an assembly line. And the product is a neutralized opponent.
Who do you think is next? Do not be naive. The blueprint does not care about your party. It does not care about your ethnicity. It does not care about your current loyalty. Today it is a former governor. Tomorrow it could be a sitting senator. It could be a vocal journalist. It could be a student leader who dares to ask where the money went. The cage is being built today. But it will be used to lock up the dissenters of tomorrow. If we allow this blueprint to be perfected; we are signing our own future warrants.
The philosopher John Stuart Mill warned about the tyranny of the majority. But in Nigeria; we face the tyranny of the machinery. When the state uses its infinite resources to crush a single citizen; the balance of power is destroyed. The courtroom is supposed to be a shield for the weak. Instead; it has become a sword for the powerful. A gavel that strikes down one man today will strike down the next generation tomorrow.
Consider the message this sends to the youth. A young person watches the news. They see a man with a record of service being treated like a common criminal. They see the law used as a tool of revenge. They do the math. They conclude that politics is a death trap. They conclude that speaking truth is a suicide mission. So they leave. They pack their bags. They take their talents abroad. This is how a nation bleeds its future. Not by war. But by the steady drip of institutional fear.
We must stop watching this as spectators. We must see the pattern. We must name the tactic. Today; when the gavel falls; do not just ask about the bail. Ask about the precedent. Ask what this means for the young man who wants to run for office in 2027. Ask what this means for the woman who wants to speak truth to power. The blueprint is being drawn in real time. We must tear it up.
The law must be a shield; not a snare. The court must be a sanctuary of truth; not a theater of attrition. If we allow the state to perfect the art of the political cage; we surrender our democracy. We surrender our future. We surrender our children to a system that punishes courage and rewards silence.
The hearing today is a test. Not of one man's endurance. But of our collective conscience. Will we accept the blueprint? Or will we reject the design? Will we let the cage be built? Or will we dismantle it brick by brick? The choice is ours. The time is now.
Demand fairness! Reject the template! Protect the future! The courtroom is not a cage! The law is not a weapon! The truth is not a crime! Speak up! Stand firm! Choose Nigeria!
©Ibrahim writes this piece. He can be reached via [email protected]
🚨AFRICA WATCH🚨
Accountability is critical. But when justice appears selective, it stops building trust and starts undermining it. #Nigeria's big test before the 2027 election is whether the law serves the constitution or becomes a political weapon.
https://t.co/RAEjESLgzX
The 98 days detention of Nasir El-Rufai has once again shown a simple truth in politics and public service, if you genuinely impact people’s lives, they will never abandon you or forget you.
Throughout those 98 days, there was hardly a single day his name did not dominate political conversations across Nigeria.
Supporters, critics, political observers, even people who once disagreed with him, continued discussing his relevance, influence, and legacy, that’s a big statement in my books.
In politics, many people hold power, but very few leave a lasting impression. Once they leave office or face challenges, the system moves on from them immediately. But with Mallam Nasir El Rufai, the situation is clearly different.
Whether people love him or dislike him, they cannot ignore him. That level of relevance is not built through propaganda, it is built through years of visible governance, tough decisions, and political influence.
The biggest lesson here is when you do your job well, history remembers you.
Who is Malam Nasiru Ahmad @elrufai ? MNE.
Gov @ubasanius has a response for you:
In the entire history of Kaduna State, NO governor has come close to MNE in terms of performance and delivery.
During his tenure as the FCT Minister, people cried out about his harsh policies, but 2 to 3 years after he left, everyone started the real cry, asking him to come back and rescue Abuja. That is the kind of person he is; when he comes to a place, he does what others can never do. In fact, what I have keenly noticed about him is that he isn't someone that you'd say you will imitate. You cannot copy him. Because when he works, he does not do it for applause or commendation. He does what he knows is right even if the people d not see it now, because they will see it in the future. That is why, I m boldly telling you, those that are complaining today in Kaduna (sic: due to what Malam is transforming the state to be), they will wish in the next few years that they'd wish Malam Elrufai is here to rescue the state. What he is doing today in Kaduna, history will forever be grateful to him.
Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has always stood for the North and spoke boldly when many stayed silent. Whether you agree with him or not, targeting or silencing him won’t change the truth he represents.
The Arewa people do not abandon their own in difficult times. Leadership comes with mistakes, but selective attacks and political witch-hunts will never unite this country.
Free El-Rufai. Respect democracy. Respect Northern voices. ✊🏽
The continued detention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has created a growing public perception that justice is being overshadowed by external pressure and political considerations. In any democracy, that perception alone is deeply damaging.
Courts must be guided only by law, evidence, and constitutional principle. When a prominent opposition figure and leading voice within a political coalition remains in custody amid unresolved bail issues, many citizens will understandably question whether the process is truly independent, balanced, and free from interference.
No court should allow itself to appear as an instrument of partisan interests. The judiciary exists to protect liberty, restrain abuse of power, and stand above political contests. Where detention appears prolonged without compelling legal necessity, confidence in the system is weakened.
Mallam El-Rufai, like every Nigerian citizen, is entitled to the presumption of innocence, fair treatment, and impartial adjudication. His political relevance should neither advantage nor disadvantage him before the law.
We therefore call for an urgent, transparent, and strictly lawful review of his continued detention and all pending bail matters. Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done.
If courts bend to pressure, democracy bends with them.
If courts stand firm, the Constitution stands firm.
Nigeria deserves courts that answer only to the law.
El-Rufai issues public alert
Malam Nasir El-Rufai wishes to alert the public to certain malicious orchestrations directed against him. The unwarranted effort to arrest him upon his arrival at Abuja Airport from Cairo on 12 February 2026 served as a clear signal of more troubling developments to follow.
On 16 February 2026, Malam El-Rufai honoured an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was detained, then transferred to the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on the night of 18 February. He remains in detention and has been arraigned in two separate high courts.
On 18 April 2026, The Nation newspaper published a report headlined “El-Rufai’s trial: Gunmen invade principal witness home.” The article stated that Mohammed Umar Karage, a witness in the criminal proceedings at the Kaduna State High Court, had reported to the police that armed individuals had invaded his residence. While it is the civic duty of every citizen to report crimes to the authorities, it is an entirely different matter to publish false imputations against others.
The Nation proceeded to do precisely that by including innuendos suggestive of a plot to frame Malam Nasir El-Rufai. According to the report, Mr. Karage linked the incident to his role as a witness in the corruption charges against El-Rufai—specifically one of the nine counts involving the alleged unlawful revocation and reallocation of land. The article further quoted Mr. Karage as alleging that the invasion might be part of an effort to silence him, drawing parallels with the controversial disappearance of Kaduna-based activist Abubakar Idris Dadiyata.
Any objective reader would recognise the clear intent behind these statements: to smear Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s reputation, jeopardise his pending bail application at the Kaduna State High Court, and implicate him in serious capital offences. The evident objective is to secure his indefinite detention through these reprehensible tactics. Such conduct is unacceptable, particularly toward a citizen who has made substantial contributions to our country.
Malam Nasir El-Rufai is an upstanding and law-abiding citizen who has no connection whatsoever to the incidents described in The Nation’s publication. Therefore, he has already instructed his legal team to initiate defamation proceedings in this matter.
Since 2023, Malam El-Rufai has been subjected to an appalling and sustained campaign of innuendos and vilification. This is a man with a distinguished record of public service. Many will recall his sterling service to the cause of national unity through his principled opposition to opportunism, alongside other senior leaders, during the events leading to the 2022 primaries of the ruling party and thereafter.
The rule of law must never be perverted into a tool of oppression. Legal processes should serve the ends of justice, not be employed to deny a citizen his fundamental right to liberty while he stands trial. Malam Nasir El-Rufai should be accorded full due process guaranteed by law to every citizen, and the persistent disregard for his rights must cease immediately.
Signed
Muyiwa Adekeye
Media Adviser to Malam Nasir El-Rufai
19 April 2026
Disclaimer
Malam Nasir El-Rufai wishes to dissociate himself from comments regarding political aspirations which have been attributed to someone described by the media as a political associate. He did not authorise such comments.
Throughout his public life, Malam Nasir @elrufai has been known for the frank articulation of his views. He is not about to outsource the expression of his political views and thoughts to others. His public communication would continue to be issued directly by him or through his authorised spokesperson.
Muyiwa Adekeye
Media Adviser
14 April 2026
https://t.co/0rGAHRZWAf
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