El-Rufai rejects Dadiyata link, denies involvement in witness home invasion

Former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has denies any involvement in claims that gunmen invaded the residence of a prosecution witness in his ongoing trial, insisting that there is a deliberate attempt to link him to the incident and to the disappearance of Kaduna-based activist Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, which he described as false and malicious.

The report, published by The Nation on April 18 under the headline, “El-Rufai’s trial: Gunmen invade principal witness home,” quoted witness Mohammed Umar Karage as alleging that armed men stormed his residence. Karage reportedly suggested the incident could be connected to his role in the corruption charges filed against the former governor.

Karage was also quoted as drawing parallels between the alleged attack and the disappearance of Dadiyata, a Kaduna-based activist who has remained missing since 2019.

Reacting in a statement issued on Sunday, El-Rufai, through his Media Adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, denied any involvement in the alleged incident. He said the former governor had “no connection whatsoever to the incidents described” in the publication.

Adekeye said El-Rufai had already directed his legal team to commence defamation proceedings over the report, which he described as an attempt to damage the former governor’s reputation and affect his pending bail application before the Kaduna State High Court.

According to him, the publication was designed to “smear Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s reputation, jeopardise his pending bail application… and implicate him in serious capital offences.”

He further said, “The rule of law must never be perverted into a tool of oppression,” adding that legal processes should be used to advance justice and not to deny any citizen liberty while standing trial.

Adekeye also insisted that El-Rufai should be accorded “full due process guaranteed by law to every citizen” and called for an end to what he described as persistent disregard for his rights.