Peter Obi got me arrested and detained for 48 hours– El-Rufai

Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, sparked controversy when he brought up the "sin" of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party, which he claimed resulted in his arrest and 48-hour detention while he was the governor of Anambra State.

El-Rufai made the declaration during an interactive Arewa Joint Committee meeting in Kaduna.

The governor made a joke about having all the security infrastructure at his disposal now that the LP candidate was also entering his territory, which sent the audience, which included Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, into a comical frenzy.

When he visited Anambra in 2013 to observe the state's governorship by-election, he claims that Obi, who was running for reelection on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, got him arrested and jailed for 48 hours.

He said, “In 2013, I went to Anambra State as an official of the APC to witness the bye-election for governorship.

“Your next guest, Peter Obi, as governor, got me arrested and detained for 48 hours in my hotel room.

“Now I’m the Governor of Kaduna State and he’s coming to Kaduna. In addition to the police and the State Secret Service, I have one mechanised division of the Nigerian Army here if I need to arrest and detain anyone.

“But we are northerners, we are civilised. We don’t do things like that. I wish you all a safe journey back to your destinations.”

However, during a youth programme in Nnewi in 2018, Obi defended his position, claiming that El-Rufai was being overly aggressive in charging him of prejudice considering the circumstances that led to his imprisonment.

He stated, “What His Excellency, Gov. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said about me has been brought to my attention. I believe that as we grow older and are saddled with more responsibilities, we are expected to become circumspect in our thinking and avoid recklessness in our speeches and utterances.

“How does the circumstance he referred to related to bigotry to warrant such a label?

“All I do for people like El-Rufai is to pray for them and encourage them to concentrate on doing those things that will better the lots of Nigerians rather than engage in hate speeches that will divide and destroy the country,” he said.

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