El-Rufai was arrested over incitement

Former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and chieftain of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has been arrested by the State Security Service, SSS over alleged “inciting,

inflammatory and grossly misleading” claims.

el-Rufai was arrested in the early hours of yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from the United Kingdom, UK.

He was said to have returned from a trip undertaken with the CPC presidential candidate in the April polls, Maj. General Muhammad Buhari, and his running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare, who were at the Chattam House in London, to make a formal presentation about the polls which result they have rejected and are contesting at the presidential election tribunal.

el-Rufai has, of recent, become very critical of the Federal Government.

In a statement, the SSS linked the arrest to “recent articles in the cyber and print media which have been considered by well-meaning Nigerians to be inciting, inflammatory and grossly misleading”. El-Rufai’s media aide corroborated the claim when he hinted that his principal may have been held over his allegation in the media that the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) was allocated N208 billion in the 2011 budget.

Sunday Vanguard security sources, however, punctured the former minister’s allegation on the N208 billion budgetary allocation to the NSA office, saying it was a lie. The sources said el-Rufai had explanations to make on the matter. It was gathered that the former minister may be charged to court tomorrow. It was not clear what he may be charged with, although a source said he may face incitement charge.

Buhari was swift in his condemnation of the arrest which he described as a flagrant violation of the former minister’s right and demanded his release.

Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, also described el-Rufai’s arrest as “a disgrace and monumental error” on the part of the Federal Government.

Why he was arrested – SSS

In a statement by the SSS, signed by Marilyn Ogar, Assistant Director, Public Relations, it was discovered that the operatives who arrested el-Rufai were acting on instructions.

The statement read:

“At 0500 hours of 2nd July, 2011, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was intercepted on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

“This became necessary following Mallam el-Rufai’s recent articles in the cyber and print media which have been considered by well meaning Nigerians to be inciting, inflammatory and grossly misleading. For instance, his column on the back page of 1st July, 2011 edition of Thisday newspaper titled “What Nigeria Pays FG” clearly attests to this.

“It is pertinent to note that the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI Bill has been passed into law, yet he refused to cross check his facts before publishing. He rather chose to misinform the public with mischievously orchestrated data with the intent of causing disaffection among the populace thereby subverting Government.

“It is expected that the Former Minister should have been more circumspect against the backdrop of current security challenges in the country.

“Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one should take laws into their hands as no one is above the law”.

How they held el-Rufai – aide

Detailing how the former minister was arrested, his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, in a statement, said el-Rufai was, yesterday morning, arrested at Abuja airport as he arrived from London aboard a British Airways flight. SSS operatives later whisked him to their headquarters where he was hauled before their Director-General, the statement.

According to the statement, ‘’feelers indicate that the immediate trigger for his arrest is his disclosure in his Thisday column of Friday, 01 July 2011 that the National Security Adviser (NSA) was allocated N208 billion in the 2011 budget. This figure is in the 2011 Appropriation Act which is a public document.

“Bringing an information in the public domain to the people cannot by any stretch of the imagination be a crime even if it embarrasses security chiefs who, on the evidence of insecurity in the land, are not delivering value despite securing tidy budgetary allocations!

“If the facts in el Rufai’s article, ‘What Nigerians pay FG’, are wrong in fact or context, that cannot be remedied by a denial of liberty. The government should simply publish its alternative narrative, and let the public decide. All efforts to establish contact with him have since proved abortive and the SSS has given no word to his family and lawyers who have kept vigil.

“el Rufai was returning from a week-long trip to the UK where he attended the Chatham House presentation by General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the CPC, who discussed recent events in Nigeria. He also visited his kids schooling there.

“Mallam el Rufai has not done anything illegal by encouraging discourse about what our government costs us. He has been outspoken about his concerns regarding the direction the current government is taking this country, and he has written critical pieces on this matter on Nigerian and international media platforms. Free speech is a constitutional right, and it implies the obligation by the state to defend even those whose views are not congruent with the powers that be.

“el Rufai’s views have been opposed by commentators more sympathetic to the Jonathan government. That is the way civilized discourse ought to go in a democratic country, not an illegal resort to arm-twisting and harassment.”

el-Rufai’s SMS message made available to our correspondent immediately he was picked read, “good morning. I have been detained at the airport on arrival by the SSS. Thanks.’’

Case to answer

But giving some insight into the reason el-Rufai was arrested, a top placed security source told Sunday Vanguard: “We picked him up because he wrote (alleged) lies”. He went on: “In the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill 2011 passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on May 25 and signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan on May 26, 2011, the intelligence community got a total allocation of N109,855,099,466 (approximated to N109.855bilion) which splits as follows: the Office of the National Security Adviser – N40,846,937,023; Directorate of State Security (that is the SSS) – N23,452,705,993; National Intelligence Agency – N27,720,580,338; and the Presidential Air Fleet –N17,834,876,113. So where did El-Rufai get his N208billion? Even then, all the funds due to intelligence community are controlled by the Permanent Secretary (Social Services) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)”.

The source further said: “When did Amnesty Programme become part of intelligence community whose votes are being managed by the National Security Adviser? It is very wrong and inciting to manufacture figures and present them as truth because you lost out somewhere and suddenly realised you should become relevant by writing a column in a newspaper. He is certainly appearing in court on Monday.”

Violation of right

Meanwhile, Buhari says the arrest is a flagrant violation of el-Rufai’s right.

The former head of state and the presidential candidate of the former minister’s party, the CPC, in the April polls, who also called for el-Rufai’s immediate release, said, “It only shows that there are more people in our country who know how to win by hook and crook than those who know how to make proper use of their victory.”

In a statement signed yesterday by his spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, Buhari noted that rather than what he termed unjust incarceration of the former minister, government should instead proceed to prefer whatever charges they have against him in court if he has committed any offense known to the laws of the land.

“But to keep him in gaol without any charges will only cast the administration in the mould of a vindictive regime that is launching a wave of political repression because it is jittery”, he said.

According to the statement, Buhari, who condemned what he described as this brazen act of intimidation,harassment and flagrant violation of citizens right in a democratic atmosphere, said ‘’that hounding innocent citizens to detention in less than a month in office while failing to rise to the security challenges facing the nation shows a regime that does not understand what its priorities should be.’’

Fani-Kayode, also querying el-Rufai’s arrest, said, “Since when has it been a crime to be critical of government?”, adding, “I thought this was meant to be a democracy. Those who speak out are not the ones President Jonathan should be worried about.

“It is those that do not speak out but that bomb, maim and kill that his SSS should be hunting down.”

The former aviation minister told Sunday Vanguard that the Jonathan administration cannot silence opposition as, according to him, to use force and intimidation against opposition would only multiply it.

He therefore called for the immediate release of the CPC chieftain.

-Vanguard