The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Hon. Isa Ashiru Kudan, has criticised the Kaduna State Government over the continued detention of former governor Nasir El-Rufai, warning that “there is a day of reckoning.”
Ashiru, who spoke in an exclusive interview with DCL Hausa monitored by Northern Nigeria Hub, said El-Rufai’s detention was politically motivated. He called on the government to stop moving the former governor from one court to another.
Ashiru said that if El-Rufai had a case to answer, he should be taken to court, tried and allowed to know his status, rather than being subjected to political persecution.
“The talk about whether politics is involved in the detention is political talk. It is politics. But the issue of Malam Nasiru being in prison every day is real; it is true; it is not a lie. Is it the Kaduna State Government that is accusing him? We are not saying Malam Nasiru has no case to answer. If you are accused, you should be taken to court and judged. Let him know his status. Let them stop moving him from one court to another. Let us all have the fear of God. Today it is you; tomorrow it is another person. If a person commits an offence, take him and punish him; let him know his position. If it is political persecution, then let them do the back-and-forth, but there is a day of reckoning,” Ashiru said.
The ADC candidate was responding to questions about allegations that Governor Uba Sani had a hand in El-Rufai’s continued detention. El-Rufai is facing charges filed by the Kaduna State Government and remains in detention.
Ashiru also said El-Rufai was his brother and that he had no problem with him, despite their fierce rivalry in 2023.
Ashiru was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 governorship election, while El-Rufai was the outgoing governor from the All Progressives Congress (APC). El-Rufai backed Uba Sani to succeed him.
Three years later, both men are now in the same opposition party, the ADC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Malam, I want to assure you—not just about Malam Nasir alone, but about other parties as well—that I have no problem with them. I relate with them because politics is not madness. Malam Nasiru is my brother; I have no problem with him. Politics separated us, and politics has now brought us together again. So I don’t have any problem with him,” he said.
Asked about his defeat in the 2023 election, Ashiru rejected claims that he had lost by a wide margin to Uba Sani.
“I did not lose woefully in 2023. What happened has happened; that is history. What I want to assure you now is that the complaints on the ground in Kaduna State have gone beyond the reasoning of a sensible person,” he said.
“I want to assure you that not just Nigeria, but the whole world knows I defeated them in the election. What went and came back is left to them. Do you suspect something happened? I strongly suspect something happened, and I have left it to God,” he added.
Ashiru also launched a scathing attack on the Kaduna State House of Assembly, saying he did not recognise it as a legislature.
“I don’t think we have a House of Assembly in Kaduna State. There are members, but there is no Assembly,” he said.
“The truth is they have become family members of the governor. Whatever he wants is what he does. Nobody says anything, let alone do anything,” he added.
Ashiru questioned when the Assembly last sat. He said the law provides for the dissolution of an Assembly that fails to sit for a specified number of days, and accused the current House of failing to perform its duties.
Asked about his strategy for the 2027 election against APC figures such as Senator Shehu Sani and former governor Muktar Ramalan Yero, who are now aligned with Governor Uba Sani, Ashiru said his plan remained a closely guarded secret and would be revealed at the appropriate time.
