Amaechi speaking to media]
Ex-minister Rotimi Amaechi fields questions from journalists during the visit.
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A cross-party parade of Nigeria’s political heavyweights filed into Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s Abuja home on Saturday to commiserate over the death of his mother, Hajiya Umma El-Rufai, who succumbed to a long illness in Cairo the day before.
Well-wishers at the Abuja residence of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. Photo credit: ADC
The condolence calls came only hours after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) let El-Rufai out of custody so he could observe the burial rites. He had been held since February 18 on suspicion of financial wrongdoing.
First to arrive was former Vice-President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who spent a short while with the ex-governor behind closed doors. He was trailed by ex-Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Abubakar Malami and El-Rufai. Photo credit: ADC
Amaechi, speaking to reporters afterwards in a video circulated by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), took aim at the basis for the month-long detention.
“To show you that the government knows what they’re doing, they just released him without a court order,” he said. “El-Rufai’s charges are politically motivated.”
His remarks have reignited arguments over the timing and substance of the ICPC probe.
Former VP Atiku Abubakar (left) with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai at the Abuja residence, Saturday.
The stream of visitors later included former Sokoto governor Senator Aminu Tambuwal and several lawmakers. Despite the legal uncertainty hanging over El-Rufai, talk inside the house centred on his late mother, described by friends as the quiet strength behind the politician’s turbulent career.
Whether El-Rufai must return to ICPC detention after the funeral has yet to be clarified.
Amaechi speaking to media] Ex-minister Rotimi Amaechi fields questions from journalists during the visit.
Former AGF Abubakar Malami, SAN, shares a quiet moment with the bereaved ex-governor.*
