The African Democratic Congress, ADC,  has raised an alarm, declaring that the continued violation of the fundamental rights of Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai is a stain on the conscience of our democracy and a dangerous descent into lawlessness by the Bola Tinubu-led government.

The leading Opposition Party remarked that 32 days ago, the former Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State, honoured an invitation by the EFCC in good faith, an act that should define a law abiding citizen in a democratic society. 

The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, in a statement indicated that two days after his release, he was taken again, this time by the ICPC. 

The party decried: "today, more than 30 days later, he remains in custody without arraignment, without formal charges, and under conditions that, by his own account include, restrictions from his family members and doctor; and coercion to abandon his political rights and associations as the price for his freedom".

ADC declared: "Let us be clear, this is not law enforcement. This is the weaponisation of state institutions against political participation. 

"It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is an affront to the very idea of Nigeria as a democratic country."

ADC argued that freedom is not a privilege that is granted at the pleasure of the executive branch. "It is a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution. The right to liberty. The right to fair hearing. The right to political participation. These are not negotiable. They are not conditional. And they are not to be negotiated in dark rooms under threat by agencies that report to President Tinubu and his appointees," ADC asserted.

According to Abdullahi, "nevertheless, as a law-abiding party, today, the ADC calls on all Nigerians, across party lines, across states, across religions, to rise in defence of the Constitution. 

"Today it is El-Rufai. Tomorrow, it could be anyone else that the president sees as a threat to his 2027 agenda. 

"The erosion of rights rarely begins with everyone, it begins with one, and spreads where and when silence permits it.

"We demand the immediate release of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, or his immediate arraignment in a court of competent jurisdiction. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is the law. 

"And let it be said clearly, if this is the democratic character of a government that is seeking another mandate from the Nigerian people, then, Nigerians must ask themselves, what becomes of the rule of law and human rights when the Tinubu government no longer needs their votes?

"It is a profound irony, and indeed, a shame, that a president who once stood as a self-proclaimed democrat, who claimed to have fought alongside NADECO against military dictatorship, now presides over actions that mirror the very abuses that NADECO resisted."