Bashir El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, has stirred fresh debate over his father’s 2013 arrest in Anambra State, insisting that former Governor Peter Obi was responsible, despite recent clarifications to the contrary.
Political activist Aisha Yesufu, speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, clarified that the Department of State Services (DSS) detained El-Rufai in 2013 without any directive from then-Governor Obi. She described the ongoing narrative linking Obi to the arrest as misleading and politically motivated.
Yesufu’s comments came after Edo State’s Commissioner for Information, Paul Ohonbamu, referenced the 2013 arrest while backing Governor Monday Okpebholo’s recent warning for Obi to stay out of Edo affairs.
Reacting via social media, Bashir El-Rufai quoted the clarification and countered: “He did [arrest him] & he is forgiven.”
The 2013 incident occurred during the Anambra governorship election, when El-Rufai, then a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was detained by DSS operatives at his hotel in Awka. The DSS defended the action at the time as a response to prevailing security threats. El-Rufai, however, maintained that he was unjustly targeted.
The resurfacing of this decade-old episode has rekindled partisan debates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
