Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has called on Nigeria to move past the era of "executive overreach" and "deliberate disregard for the rule of law" following a high-stakes confrontation with security operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Thursday. The incident, which saw officials from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) attempt to take the former governor into custody, resulted in the seizure of his international passport immediately upon his return to the country from Cairo, Egypt.
The encounter at the nation’s capital airport sparked immediate legal and political backlash, as El-Rufai’s legal team characterised the move as an extrajudicial harassment of a private citizen. In a statement on X released shortly after the incident, El-Rufai expressed his disappointment with the current state of democratic institutions in Nigeria. He maintained that the actions of the security agencies represented a step backward for the country's judicial integrity.
El-Rufai emphasised that the nation must outgrow the culture of using state apparatuses to bypass established legal protocols. The former governor suggested that such actions only serve to undermine the stability of the federation.
Lead counsel for the former governor, Ubong Esop Akpan, issued a stern demand for the immediate and unconditional cessation of all unlawful efforts to detain his client. Akpan described the seizure of El-Rufai’s travel documents as a "stolen" asset and a flagrant infringement on his fundamental human rights. The legal team has formally requested a written apology and the prompt return of the passport, warning that they are prepared to seek judicial redress if the government fails to comply.