A former presidential candidate and activist, Omoyele Sowore, has ridiculed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who are presently in the custody of the Nigerian government.
Both men are being probed by the Nigerian government over various alleged corruption and security issues.
A spokesperson to El-Rufai, Muyiwa Adekeye, disclosed on Monday that the former Kaduna governor experienced a nosebleed overnight while being held by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Adekeye also alleged that the commission stopped El-Rufai’s wife from handing him food personally on February 17.
El-Rufai had turned himself in at the EFCC headquarters on February 16 after receiving an invitation from the anti-corruption agency.
Two days later, on February 18, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, assumed custody of him following his release from the EFCC.
Both anti-graft bodies are investigating El-Rufai over alleged financial misconduct during his time as Kaduna governor from 2015 to 2023.
In 2024, the Kaduna state house of assembly accused him of misappropriating N423 billion in public funds and engaging in money laundering, urging anti-corruption agencies to launch a probe.
The DSS is also prosecuting Malami over alleged illegal possession of firearms and terrorism financing.
Sowore said that Malami has reached out to him and his team to force the government’s hands to release him from Kuje Prison where he is currently cooling his feet.
Sowore said “Malami sent people to me and our lawyer to come and bringing him out. He suddenly found out that we are the most credible people around. I’m sure El-Rufai must have been looking for a way now to reach out, because all this shouting about bleeding of nose is to get sympathy.
“I’m not saying that his nose is not bleeding, and I call on the government to stop his nosebleed. They must give him good doctors or take him to Kaduna to go to the hospital he built to stop the bleeding.
“If you are in power in this country, like the governor, head of state, or President, Vice President, senators, you should take care of the prisons, in case you find yourselves there. I don’t know what his legal strategies are, but all we know is that he’s been held by his friends in the APC, and this is the strategy they used to use on others.
“I’m surprised that his nose is bleeding at the ICPC. When did his nose start bleeding? When he was governor, was his nose bleeding? But I’m not making fun of him, because I don’t support any form of impunity against anybody.
“But even while we are condemning impunity, we must also not let history invade us by reminding ourselves that these guys created the monsters that is now consuming them.”
