Two prominent Nigerians have dismissed Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s claim that Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi ordered his arrest in 2013.
In their reactions, Dr. Reuben Abati, public analyst with Arise TV and a tweep, Adetutu Balogun, faulted El-rufai’s allegation as politics taken too far.
El-Rufai had on Monday at an interactive session organised by Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna on Monday, claimed to have been detained nine years ago in Anambra for 48 hours on the orders of Mr Obi, the then governor of the state.
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He said, “I want to say that I went to Anambra state for my party to monitor election, Peter Obi who was a Governor put me under house arrest for 48 hours.
“Today, I am the Governor of Kaduna state and he’s coming to Kaduna to campaign and apart from other security agencies, I have the First Mechanized Division of the Army in Kaduna but I will not arrest him because we Northerners are civilized people.”
El-rufai had gone to Anambra State in 2013 to lend support for Chris Ngige, the current Minister of Labour, who ran against Peter Obi on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, during governorship election.
But, Abati, on Tuesday, averred that El-rufai dragged State Security Service (SSS) to court over his unlawful detention.
Abati queried El-rufai why he did not join Obi in the suit then if he was culpable of the unlawful detention.
According to him, the court convicted SSS and awarded millions of Naira damage to El-rufai.
Also, tweep Balogun, tweeted an old video which captured El-Rufai blaming authorities from Abuja for being responsible for his alleged house arrest.
In the video, El-Rufai was heard saying “I left my hotel room to go and get my breakfast and I was blocked by three SSS officers with AK-47, threatening me that they have directive from Abuja to restrict me to my room.”
Reacting to Balogun’s tweet, El-Rufai took to his verified handle to claim that he has video evidence of Obi claiming responsibility for the alleged unlawful detention.
He wrote, “Yes but your little god Peter Obi later revealed on national TV – we have the video clip – that he got the unlawful detention effected, and said I had no right to be in Anambra State since it was not Katsina State.
“The clown didn’t even know that I am from Kaduna State.”
Obi reacts
Meanwhile, Obi has reacted to El-Rufai, for linking him to his arrest in Anambra State years ago.
The former Anambra governor described the governor’s comment as a reckless one which should not have been made in the public space.
“What His Excellency, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said about me has been brought to my attention. I believe that as we grow older and are saddled with more responsibilities, we are expected to become circumspect in our thinking and avoid recklessness in our speeches and utterances.
“How does the circumstance he referred to relate to bigotry, to warrant such a label?
“All I do for people like El-Rufai is to pray for them and encourage them to concentrate on doing those things that will better the lots of Nigerians rather than engage in hate speeches that will divide and destroy the country,” he fired back.
Mr Obi said it was impossible for him at the time to order agents of the State Security Service (SSS) from Abuja to arrest Mr El-Rufai.
“The police commissioner that was there then was from Adamawa State, and the AIG was from Nasarawa. The GMD that was planning for that election was from Kano. There’s no way I could have done that.
“My chairman, I never asked anyone to arrest you. As Governor of Anambra State, I have the first APC best policeman in Nigeria, and he is from Kano, so where will I give the order and tell a man who lives in my house every day that I want to deal with his people, and he will say yes?”
“I was in APGA during the elections in 2010 (2013), the ruling party was PDP, how can I instruct the PDP in Abuja to detain anybody, even me as state governor was detained in my own local government,” Mr Obi said.
