NSCIA Claims Unfair Treatment in El-Rufai's Case, Seeks Justice

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has spoken out about the legal troubles of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. They believe that outside religious interests may be affecting his trial.

In a statement signed by its secretary-general, Is-haq Oloyede, the NSCIA urged the government and the judiciary to stop people with sectarian goals from using public institutions against El-Rufai.

The council said they held back from commenting on the issue before, seeing the legal process as normal and trusting the courts to deliver justice.

“The restraint was because the Council hitherto considered the prosecution as a standard judicial process, and that the Judiciary has inherent capacity to uphold justice.

“However, recent developments in the public domain have raised serious concerns that strongly suggest an extraneous involvement of an underlying religious bias against the former Governor.

“Consequently, the Council calls upon the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Judiciary to ensure that individuals with vested religious interests are strictly prevented from weaponising public institutions or the legal system to execute a sectarian agenda against him.

“Furthermore, the Council appeals to the general public to refrain from incendiary comments that could prejudice the fair trial of Mallam El-Rufai or exacerbate the security situation in our nation,” the statement mentioned.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting Mr El-Rufai. This follows a report from a 2024 Kaduna State House of Assembly investigation. The report accused his administration from 2015 to 2023 of misusing public funds.

The ICPC has brought several charges against the former governor in both Federal and State courts. One of these charges claims he tapped the phone calls of National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Mr El-Rufai has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He insists that the prosecution is driven by political motives.

He is currently in ICPC custody under court-approved remand orders while his legal team fights against his ongoing detention.