Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has renewed his demand for the immediate release of former Kaduna State Governor and Deputy Chairman of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and other persons he described as political detainees.
Atiku made the call on Wednesday when he received the leadership of the ADC in Kaduna State at his Abuja residence.
The former Vice President said the Federal Government had no justification for keeping citizens in detention on account of their political beliefs or associations.
“The Federal Government has no basis to continue to hold people on the grounds of their beliefs or political association. Let’s hope that the Federal Government will listen to wise counsel and release them immediately,” Atiku said.
El-Rufai has remained in detention amid ongoing legal proceedings over allegations arising from his tenure as Kaduna State governor. He and other defendants have denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Speaking on his longstanding political relationship with Kaduna State, Atiku said the state would occupy a strategic position in the ADC’s campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Kaduna State will be key in all that we would do. I also want our party to win Kaduna State. We must not allow our elections to be stolen in the state or in any other state,” he said.
Atiku also urged ADC leaders and supporters in Kaduna to draw lessons from the recent governorship election in Osun State, alleging that voters resisted financial inducement and voted according to their convictions.
“We can all recall what happened in Osun State. There was no money that was not taken to the state, as well as the entire security. But the people of Osun took their money and refused to vote for them,” he said.
ADC Targets One Million Votes in Kaduna
Earlier, Chairman of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, said Kaduna State had emerged as the leading state in the party’s ongoing nationwide membership registration exercise and had maintained its position.
Imam challenged the Kaduna State leadership to convert the party’s expanding membership base into electoral support for its presidential candidate in 2027.
“Kaduna State came first in the registration of party members and has continued to maintain the lead. Kaduna State must deliver a minimum of one million votes for our presidential candidate. Kaduna is central to the ADC ahead of the 2027 presidential election,” Imam said.
The campaign council was recently constituted by Atiku, with Ibrahim-Imam as chairman and El-Rufai as deputy chairman.
Also speaking, the ADC governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Alhaji Isah Ashiru, expressed confidence in the party’s prospects, saying the ADC was positioned to win the governorship election and secure victory for all its candidates in the state.
