‘We’re Not Asking Tinubu To Stop The Trial, But For Due Process’ — Asiya El-Rufai

The wife of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Asiya El-Rufai, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to ensure that her husband’s constitutional rights are protected as he faces trial over allegations of unlawfully intercepting the telephone communications of National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, the lawyer stressed that her family was not asking the President to halt the prosecution but to ensure that El-Rufai receives fair treatment in accordance with the law, including access to medical care, legal representation, family visits and bail on reasonable terms.

LEADERSHIP reports that the appeal comes amid controversy surrounding the former governor’s continued detention, concerns over his health, the arrest of his personal physician and allegations that restrictions imposed on him are affecting his ability to prepare his defence.

Asiya argued that the offences against her husband are bailable under Nigerian law, lamenting that his repeated applications for bail had either been denied or subjected to conditions she described as practically impossible to fulfil.

“Mallam has been accused of offenses in different courts, and those charges are clearly bailable offenses under the Nigerian law. He has applied for bail severally. In the High Court, he was denied bail. In the Federal High Court, he was granted bail with terms that are not viable. In the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, Justice Ekwo granted him bail for two sureties, N200 million each, with property worth N200 million in GRA Kaduna. He also said that the Traditional Council of Kaduna State must give attestation. Now, efforts to get this became impossible. The Traditional Council would not give that attestation.

“So we’re appealing to the President just to tell them to allow the law to take its course. Give him fair hearing. Allow the courts to be the arbiters.”

She questioned why the former governor continued to be denied bail despite what she described as his history of complying with judicial processes.

“Because previous issues that he had, when after he left the office of the minister, the EFCC actually gave him bail on his self-recognizance, and the trial went on. He was there at every sitting, and he was vindicated. So, I honestly don’t know where this fear of giving him bail is coming from.”

Although she stopped short of accusing the judiciary of bias, Asiya suggested that political considerations could be influencing the actions of prosecuting agencies.

“I don’t want to speculate, but as a Nigerian, as a human being, I don’t think it is wrong if I say there must be some politics going on. I can speak about the agencies—they are the ones that took him to court. They’re the ones that oppose the bails. They’re the ones that, you know, say that this guy is a flight risk.”

On her husband’s health, she disclosed that authorities had taken him to specialist eye clinics for treatment related to glaucoma but were preventing him from seeing his long-time personal physician.

“That’s quite dicey to say because previously they’ve taken him to see his eye doctors, the different eye clinics, because he has issues with glaucoma. However, they do not want him to access, I think, this particular doctor. Whatever the reason is.”

She further revealed that El-Rufai’s personal physician, Professor Bello, had been arrested despite treating the former governor for years.

“They’ve now arrested him. Professor Bello has been Mallam’s doctor since Mallam was DG, BPE.”

Addressing reports that El-Rufai used a hospital visit to meet political associates, she maintained that he acted within the court order permitting him unrestricted access to medical care.

“There’s no court directive, sir. The court directive was very clear: he should have unfettered access to health care. The ICPC is interpreting the order too narrowly.

“What I will say about this is that we requested for 5:00 PM because of the same issue. It will be less busy, there will be less people. They opened the door. Now, after the consultation, they always insist on a report. And that letter, they asked Mallam to wait to collect the letter. Mallam was sitting in the reception. There were people already there. Mallam is a prominent person, people come to greet him.

“It’s not as if it was a closed-door meeting. It’s not as if he called somebody to come. You informed him at 7:00 PM. He does not have access to a phone. How is it that he arranged to have a meeting with politicians?”

Asiya also criticised the arrest of Professor Bello, warning that targeting medical professionals for treating politically exposed persons could undermine healthcare delivery and worsen the country’s brain drain.

“The fact that we are weaponizing healthcare. If doctors become afraid to offer opinions, what does it say? It’s not about Nasir El-Rufai anymore. It’s about the fact that professionals are being muzzled so that they are afraid to give professional opinions. What does this say about our nation?”

While insisting that President Tinubu should not interfere with the judicial process, she recalled her family’s support for his 2023 presidential campaign, saying they expected only fairness and respect for due process.

“My husband supported President Tinubu because he’s an honorable man. He fought everyone, he even fought President Buhari. He took the President to court just to ensure that this agreement stood. So yes, I brought it up because it is normal to expect basic courtesy from somebody that you’ve done so much for. I personally went and campaigned for him.

“The President may not have the power to stop anything, but he has the power to tell them to do the right thing.”

She urged Tinubu to uphold the rule of law, arguing that public confidence in the justice system depends on equal treatment before the law.

“It’s not about El-Rufai alone. If people lose faith in rule of law, anarchy is the question. So Mr. President… let people know that if they’ve done something, they will get fairness.

“If somebody has done something wrong, please take him to court and prosecute him. But in the process of doing this prosecution, you must follow the tenets of the law. You must have empathy.”

Reacting to claims that her husband is perceived as a political threat, Asiya challenged those behind the prosecution to allow him participate freely in politics if they believed in democratic competition.

“They see him as a threat? Is he a threat? Why don’t they test it? Why don’t they let him go and see whether he’s actually a threat or not? What is the fear?

“Yes, he’s intelligent. Yes, he’s smart. Yes, he’s strategic. Yes, he’s influential. But isn’t politics all about competition? Why are we afraid of competition? If we know we’ve done well, why should we run away from facing the opposition?”