Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on authorities to release former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai and other individuals he described as political detainees, warning against the use of state power to suppress dissent.
Atiku made this known in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday following his return to Nigeria after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia.
According to him, he had just led a delegation on a solidarity visit to former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
“Following my return to the country on Saturday night from Umrah (lesser Hajj), I led a delegation on a solidarity visit to the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN,” Atiku wrote.
The former presidential candidate used the opportunity to urge authorities to immediately release those allegedly being held for political reasons, including El-Rufai.
“I wish to serve notice to the authorities detaining former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, @elrufai, and all other political detainees to release them henceforth,” he stated.
Atiku further stressed that political differences should not be grounds for detention in a democratic society.
“No one should be detained simply because they do not share the same ideology or political platform with the government of the day,” he added.