Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has strongly criticised the Kaduna State Police Command for allegedly blocking a scheduled meeting of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing the action as unconstitutional and a troubling sign of creeping authoritarianism in Nigeria.
The meeting, which was to be held at the ADC’s state secretariat in Kaduna, was expected to host the party’s North-West leaders on a solidarity visit to members who were attacked during an opposition coalition gathering last weekend. That earlier event, attended by representatives of the PDP, SDP, NNPP, LP and ADC, descended into violence after suspected thugs stormed the venue armed with weapons. Several people were injured and vehicles were vandalised, while security operatives on the ground were accused of failing to intervene effectively.
Speaking at a press conference from his private residence on Thursday, El-Rufai accused the Kaduna Police Commissioner of acting in bad faith and colluding with political actors to stifle dissent.
According to him, the commissioner claimed to possess a court injunction stopping the ADC meeting but did not properly serve the order on those concerned.
“The commissioner knows what he is doing violates the Constitution,” El-Rufai said. “He waved a piece of paper claiming it was a court order, but it was never served. Even if such an order exists, it must be legally delivered before it can take effect. That has not happened.”
The former governor warned that using law enforcement to obstruct lawful political gatherings poses a grave risk to Nigeria’s democracy.
“This is a dangerous descent into lawlessness,” he declared. “We could have gone ahead with the meeting because we are within our constitutional rights, but we chose to respect the commissioner’s word—even though we have not seen the order—because we don’t believe the commissioner of police could be lying.”
El-Rufai explained that the press conference was deliberately held at a private residence he had not lived in for years in order to avoid direct confrontation with security operatives.
The former governor vowed to challenge the police action in court, adding that the matter could escalate to the Supreme Court.
“We want to see that injunction, we want to know the grounds, and we will contest them in court. This is not the end—further steps will follow,” he said.