The wife of the former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, Asiya El-Rufai, who is also a lawyer, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to ensure her husband enjoys his constitutional rights while facing trial for unlawful interception of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s telephone communications.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, the lawyer insisted the family is not seeking to halt the criminal proceedings but wants El-Rufai granted access to adequate medical care, legal representation, family visits, and bail on reasonable terms in line with the law.
The appeal comes amid growing controversy over the prosecution of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai. His wife, Asiya El-Rufai, says the family is not asking President Bola Tinubu to halt the trial but is seeking his constitutional rights, including access to medical care, legal counsel, family, and bail where permitted by law, amid concerns over his health and ability to prepare his defence.
The appeal also follows controversy surrounding the arrest of El-Rufai’s personal physician, concerns over his health in custody and claims that the restrictions imposed on him are hindering his ability to prepare his defence.
“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, 200 million each, with property worth 200 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 said.
Continuing her remarks, El-Rufai questioned why her husband was being denied bail despite previously honouring court proceedings after being granted bail on self-recognisance by the EFCC.
“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,” she questioned.
While she declined to directly accuse the courts of wrongdoing, she suggested there “must be some politics going on” and argued that prosecuting agencies were portraying him as a flight risk.
“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 are the ones that, you know, say that this guy is a flight risk,” she shared.
On the former governor’s health, she disclosed that authorities had taken El-Rufai to eye clinics for treatment related to glaucoma but were preventing him from seeing his 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 said.
She also criticised the arrest of El-Rufai’s personal physician, Professor Bello, saying he has treated the former governor since his time as Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
“They’ve now arrested him. Professor Bello has been Mallam’s doctor since Mallam was DG, BPE,” she revealed.
Dismissing claims that the former governor’s hospital visit was used to facilitate meetings with political associates, El-Rufai insisted there was no breach of any court order. She maintained that the visit was strictly for medical treatment and in line with the court’s directive granting him access to healthcare.
“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. Malam is a prominent person, people come to greet him.
“And so, if in the process, something went wrong, people that they didn’t want to see happens to be there, how do you blame him? A conversation… yeah, he had conversations; in a public place. 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?”, she quizzed.
Commenting on the arrest of Professor Bello, El-Rufai said she was worried that healthcare was being “weaponised,” warning that intimidating medical professionals could discourage doctors from giving independent medical opinions and further 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 in so that they are afraid to give professional opinions. What does this say about our nation? We have been saying that our people are running away to go abroad to be doctors and all that. This is one example of what will make somebody leave,” she explained.
While reiterating that President Bola Tinubu should not interfere with the trial, El-Rufai also recalled her family’s support for his 2023 election, saying they expected only “basic courtesy” in return. She added that although the President may not have the power to stop the prosecution, he has the authority to ensure the relevant agencies act fairly and uphold the law.
“I know what we went through. 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,” she said.
“The President may not have the power to stop anything, but he has the power to tell them to do the right thing,” she added.
Appealing to President Bola Tinubu, El-Rufai urged him to uphold the rule of law and ensure fairness, saying respect for due process and equality before the law are essential to maintaining public confidence in Nigeria’s justice system.
“It’s not about El-Rufai alone. If people lose faith in rule of law, anarchy is the question. So Mr. President, it is important that you, as the head—for instance, of a family, because Nigeria is a family—should put your foot down and say that, ‘Look, let’s do things properly. Let’s give people the confidence to know that if something… if they’ve done something, that they will get fairness.’
“I am Malam’s wife, and as his wife, I’m worried and I would appeal for fairness on his behalf. But beyond that, I am a Nigerian. I am a human being. I am a lawyer. I would want to see a Nigeria where the rule of law is respected, where it doesn’t matter who you are, but you are equal—which is what it’s supposed to be before the law. 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,” she stressed.
Responding to suggestions that her husband is viewed as a political threat, El-Rufai questioned why anyone would fear political competition, arguing that democracy should allow opponents to compete freely rather than be intimidated.
“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? What can he do? He’s a human being. He’s a single person. 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?”, she questioned.
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