Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, was on Thursday allegedly confronted by security operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, moments after arriving from Cairo, Egypt.
The allegation was made by his media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, who said the operatives sought to take El-Rufai into custody immediately after he disembarked from his flight.
Adekeye, in a statement shared on social media, said El-Rufai refused to comply with the request, insisting that he would not follow the agents without a formal warrant or official invitation.
“Security agents today attempted to arrest Malam Nasir El-Rufai as he arrived on a flight from Cairo. Malam El-Rufai declined to follow them without a formal invitation,” Adekeye stated.
He further alleged that the operatives confiscated El-Rufai’s international passport from one of his aides during the encounter, which later eased into a tense stalemate.
The development comes less than 24 hours after El-Rufai granted an interview to BBC Hausa in which he alleged that he was being targeted by the current administration. He claimed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was mounting pressure on opposition figures to defect.
El-Rufai also disclosed that four of his associates in Kaduna had recently been arrested, warning that it might only be a matter of time before similar action was taken against him.
Security agencies had not issued any official response to the allegations as of press time.
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