The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, sources confirm.
According to insiders, el-Rufai, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who voluntarily presented himself at the EFCC headquarters on Monday after an invitation from the agency, will spend the night in custody as investigators continue to question him about alleged financial improprieties during his tenure as governor.
El-Rufai was governor of Kaduna between 2015 and 2023.
“He is in our custody, and he is going to spend the night there,” a source said.
A source said the former governor may be released after further interrogation on Tuesday, depending on the progress of investigations.
In 2024, the Kaduna assembly indicted el-Rufai over the alleged diversion of N423 billion in public funds and money laundering and demanded that he be investigated by anti-graft agencies.
The former Kaduna governor has also been invited by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and is expected to be interrogated on Wednesday.
Last Thursday, security operatives attempted to arrest el-Rufai at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, when he touched down from Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
El-Rufai would later allege that the ICPC, at Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser’s instruction, asked the Department of State Services (DSS) officials to arrest him upon arrival.
On Saturday, during an interview on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, el-Rufai said “someone wiretapped” Ribadu’s phone, allowing him to listen to the NSA directing security operatives to effect his arrest.
