Former Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has criticized the human rights record of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, accusing him of actions taken during his tenure as minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
In a post on his Facebook page, Fani-Kayode alleged that El-Rufai attempted to shut down African Independent Television, a station owned by late media entrepreneur Raymond Dokpesi, and seize the land on which it was built.
According to Fani-Kayode, El-Rufai not only tried to close the television station but also confiscated surrounding land belonging to the media organization.
“El-Rufai did not just attempt to close down AIT and seize the land on which it was built; he also illegally confiscated large swathes of surrounding land which AIT had paid for and for which it had valid certificates of occupancy,” Fani-Kayode wrote.
He further alleged that some buildings belonging to the organization were demolished without due process and in defiance of court orders.
Fani-Kayode also claimed that El-Rufai, who has recently raised concerns about alleged violations of his own rights, had himself committed several abuses while in office.
He alleged that after being directed to stop harassing Dokpesi and AIT, El-Rufai planned to burn down the television station. According to him, the alleged plan leaked to officials in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and was opposed by several senior figures.
Fani-Kayode said those who allegedly opposed the move included former chief of staff to the president Abdullahi Mohammed, former presidential spokesperson Remi Oyo, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Nuhu Ribadu, former political adviser to the president Akin Osuntokun and Uba Sani, who served at the time as senior special assistant to the president on public affairs.
He said their intervention allegedly prevented the plan from being carried out.
“Had it not been that we intervened, ensured the plan was aborted and threatened to report the matter to President Obasanjo, AIT would have been burnt to the ground and the cause of the fire would have been attributed to an electrical fault,” Fani-Kayode wrote.
The former minister also said that during Obasanjo’s administration, media critics were not persecuted but engaged through public debate.
He cited the late Sam Nda-Isaiah, founder of Leadership Newspaper, as one of the administration’s most vocal critics.
“Rather than lock him up, plan to kill him or burn down his newspaper house, we engaged him in healthy and often volatile debate,” Fani-Kayode said.
Fani-Kayode also expressed concern over recent comments attributed to El-Rufai regarding the alleged importation of chemical weapons into the country and called on authorities to investigate the claims.
“I may be wrong, but this must be looked into and we must not take any chances,” he said, adding that the allegations raise serious security concerns.
He concluded that the claims and past actions attributed to El-Rufai should be taken seriously because of their potential implications for national security and democratic freedoms.
