El-Rufai Shuns Police Invitation

Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, submitted a petition against the state’s Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Rabiu, over what he described as “unprofessional conduct, abuse of office, and serial violations”.

The petition was a fresh twist in the face-off between the leadership of the African Democratic Congress in Kaduna State and the state’s police command.

The Kaduna police had sealed the Kaduna ADC secretariat last Thursday and subsequently invited El-Rufai and other ADC leaders for questioning for alleged “conspiracy, incitement, mischief, and disturbance of public peace in the state”.

Previously, members of the Kaduna ADC had suffered attacks by political thugs, with the ADC accusing the police of backing the thugs.

Rather than honour the police invitation, El-Rufai, according to a statement on Monday by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, dragged the police commissioner before the Police Service Commissioner.

El-Rufai, in the petition, alleged that the Commissioner of Police and some officers of the Kaduna Police Command had engaged in acts “unbecoming of their calling” since assuming office on December 30, 2024.

The former governor said he was compelled to alert the PSC after an earlier petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, failed to curb what he called the “egregiously unlawful” conduct of the officers.

“I am writing out of concern that the Nigeria Police, warts and all, is the only frontline law enforcement institution we have,” El-Rufai stated in a statement signed by his media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, in Kaduna on Monday.

“The duty of all citizens is not only to support it at every level but also to ensure that the commission is provided opportunities to deliver on its regulatory powers to enforce discipline and promote sound and ethical conduct by all police officers at all times,” he added.

El-Rufai, known for his fiery disposition, accused some police officers of “serving interests other than those conferred by law,” insisting that such behaviour tarnished the image of the force and eroded public confidence in its leadership.

“This laudable goal can only be attained if the commission’s attention is continuously drawn to any egregious conduct of some bad eggs that serve interests other than those conferred by law in Section 4 of the Police Act, 2020,” he said.

“Such conduct thereby negatively affects the image of the Police and undermines public confidence in its leadership.”

The former governor did not provide details of the alleged misconduct in the petition made available to the media, but sources close to him said it was linked to a series of police actions in the state in recent months that allegedly targeted some of his political associates.

The Kaduna State Police Command had yet to react officially to the petition as calls and messages sent to the command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, were unanswered.