By Obinna Uballa
Nasir El-Rufai, a former Governor of Kaduna State, on Thursday lambasted the Kaduna State Police Command for allegedly stopping a scheduled meeting of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership in the state, describing the action as unconstitutional, provocative and a sign of Nigeria’s dangerous slide towards authoritarian rule.
According to the former governor, the planned meeting, billed to hold at the ADC state secretariat, was meant for the party’s North-West leadership to commiserate with members following last Saturday’s violent disruption of an opposition coalition gathering in Kaduna.
Recall that the earlier event, which brought together leaders of the ADC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Labour Party (LP), ended in chaos after suspected political thugs reportedly invaded the venue with cutlasses, clubs and stones.
Several participants were injured, vehicles and property vandalised, while security operatives were widely criticised for not taking appropriate action to restore order.
El-Rufai, speaking at a press conference at his private residence, accused the police of acting in bad faith and colluding to suppress opposition voices.
He alleged that the state police commissioner claimed to have secured a court injunction stopping the ADC meeting but failed to serve it on the affected parties.
“The commissioner knows what he is doing violates the Constitution,” El-Rufai said. “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 order, and it has not been properly served. Even if there is a court order, there is a legal process to serve an affected person, and it has not been followed.”
El-Rufai condemned what he called the misuse of law enforcement to stifle democratic engagement, warning that such actions set a dangerous precedent.
“This is a dangerous descent into lawlessness,” he declared. “As responsible leaders, we could have gone ahead with the meeting because nobody can stop us; we are within our constitutional rights. But we decided to respect the commissioner’s word, even though we have not seen the order, because we don’t believe the commissioner of police could be lying.”
He explained that the press briefing was held in his private residence, a building he had not lived in for 15 years, to avoid any confrontation with security agencies.
The former governor vowed to take the matter to the Supreme Court and hinted at further legal and political steps in the coming days.
“We want to see that injunction, we want to see the grounds, and of course, we will challenge whatever grounds in court. This is not the end of it. Other things will follow,” he said.
