‘We Must Not Sleep Until We Defeat Tinubu Government’, El-Rufai Says During Atiku Solidarity Visit

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has vowed that the opposition will remain relentless in its efforts to unseat President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the 2027 general election.

El-Rufai made the remarks on Thursday night when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar paid him a solidarity visit after a failed attempt by security operatives to arrest him at the Abuja airport on his return from Egypt earlier in the day.

“Your Excellency, I assure you that what happened today has further reinforced my belief that we must work hard. We must not sleep between now and March 2027 until we remove this tyrant from office,” El-Rufai said.

Describing the airport incident as “unfortunate, totally unnecessary, and probably criminal,” El-Rufai alleged that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) detained him on the orders of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) without prior invitation.

He explained that while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had earlier invited him for questioning, his lawyers had informed the agency of his absence from the country and scheduled a meeting for Monday at 10 a.m. He insisted that he had received no communication from the ICPC before the episode.

According to him, the ICPC acted on the directive of National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, accusing the government of weaponising security agencies against perceived political opponents.

“We have reduced security institutions to arms of a political party and a government that knows it is unelectable but wants to remain in power at all costs,” El-Rufai claimed.