EFCC grills El-Rufai over corruption allegations

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday questioned former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai over alleged corruption and fraud linked to his time in office between 2015 and 2023.

El-Rufai, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, reportedly honoured an invitation from the anti-graft agency days after his legal team confirmed he would make himself available to investigators.

The interrogation follows a failed attempt by operatives to arrest him last Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

The former governor arrived at the EFCC headquarters accompanied by hundreds of supporters. Sources within the commission said he was being interrogated over multiple corruption allegations arising from his tenure, though the duration of the questioning remained uncertain.

“He is with our investigators, but it is still early to determine how long the process will take,” a source said, adding that arraignment in court remains a possibility.

His counsel, Ubong Akpan, stated that the EFCC invitation was received while El-Rufai was overseas and argued that the attempted arrest lacked legal justification and violated constitutional rights.

“There exists no justifiable basis for this attempted arrest or the accompanying mistreatment,” Akpan said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, two separate groups of protesters gathered outside the EFCC headquarters during the visit. While some sang solidarity songs in support of the former governor, others demanded a thorough investigation into the allegations.

Tensions briefly flared when some of El-Rufai’s supporters were denied entry into the commission’s office in Jabi.

Muhammad Abdullahi, spokesperson for a group advocating accountability, urged authorities not to politicise the matter, insisting that the allegations should be handled strictly through legal channels.

In response, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale appealed for calm, assuring demonstrators that their petitions would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities and that the commission would handle the case professionally.