Police Invites El-Rufai, Other APC Leaders For Questioning

Hours before the election police of Kaduna state has summoned Nasir El-Rufai, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant to report for questioning in their offices.

Asked to appear along with El-Rufai are Suleiman Hunkuyi and Lawal Yakawada.

Hunkuyi is the APC senatorial aspirant for Kaduna North and chief of the APC Kaduna state campaign council while Mr. Yakawada, who was secretary to the state government in the Patrick Yakowa administration, is a senior member of the APC campaign council.

All three were summoned by the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the CID.

Samuel Aruwan, the spokesperson for the APC campaign council said, the police have followed up the written invitation with telephone calls.

The intent behind requesting the three top chiefs of the opposition to report hours before election is to hold them down until the poll ends, Aruwan said.

It is not clear why the police want to query the three men but APC insiders supposed the summon has to do with an appeal about devastation of billboards in Zaria.

The APC says it has been a victim of widespread vandalisation of its assets, saying the action of the police “is part of a campaign to slap criminal charges on the opposition for actions for which it has already been victimized”.

In a respond to the summon, Yusuf Dankofa, an associate professor of law and counsel to the APC, has written to the police, informing them that there is a current court action at the Federal High Court in Kaduna concerning the events in Zaria.

“In view of this fact that the above mentioned people’s application is before the court, the matter has been further adjourned to the 29th of April 2015 for further arguments and with this the court has been seized of this matter,” Dankofa said.

The police are yet to answer to Mr. Dankofa’s letter.

However, the APC says it has been warned to a plot to arrest some of its leaders in Southern Kaduna.

They comprise party chairman and gubernatorial running-mate, Barnabas Yusuf Bala (Bantex), Mikaiah Tokwak, Ishaya Iko, a retired vice-admiral and Ben Kure, Director General of Kaduna APC campaign council.

Earlier today, March 27, the opposition party has appealed the International Criminal Court in Hague, Netherlands to investigate President Goodluck Jonathan and eight others as esteems the audio file which supposedly caught some PDP chieftains on rigging poll in Ekiti state.

It should be noted that tomorrow, March 28, Nigerians will choose their next president.