Why President Yar’dua wants Nasir El Rufai jailed and/or stopped
Last Updated: Monday, April 20, 2009 9:22 PM - ukpakareports.com

“Yar’dua has insisted I must be charged even for a traffic violation to convict me as soon as possible” stated Nasir El Rufai, the erstwhile minister for the Federal Capital Territory under the General Olusegun Obasanjo regime - as he made attempts at clearing the air why the Nigerian Federal Government wants him back in Nigeria to answer some pending law enforcement related issues. This is while adding “that they will inject me with HIV and Hepatitis” when they arrest him.

To this end, Ukpakareports.com through intelligent sources found that there may be credence to the accession/avowals of the former minister.

As learnt, the former minister’s long incubated ambition to vie for the office of presidency that dates back to the electioneering exercise of 2007 has been an open secret in Abuja power circles – and it is pegged as the principal reason why the office of the Presidency wants him discredited, blackmailed or jailed. This is according knowledgeable sources within the upper echelons of PDP.

Before the exit of General Olusegun Obasanjo, it was learnt that Obasanjo told President Yar’dua to be careful of the “economic team” [of which El Rufai was a part of] and to ensure that he removes them from his cabinet as soon as possible because he does trust them particularly since they were able to betray their ‘master’ who brought them into the President’s cabinet – in the person of the former Vice President Abubakar Atiku. Obasanjo also warned the then incoming President Yar’dua that prior to the selection of him [Yar’dua] as the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] presidential candidate - that Nasir El Rufai had sent his good friend Nuhu Ribadu to him [Obasanjo] to declare his interest in becoming the PDP presidential candidate.

Ukpakareports.com gathered that during the period leading up to the selection of Umaru Yar’dua, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s attention – as it was drawn to the interest of the former minister - of becoming the PDP flag bearer, immediately summoned for El Rufai. While in the presence of Olusegun Obasanjo, Nasir El Rufai confirmed his intentions to vie for the office. Obasanjo became uneasy. Obasanjo had always viewed Nasir El Rufai as an Atiku boy – who betrayed Atiku for Obasanjo’s bigger ‘pie’. Obasanjo’s uneasiness led to his instructing Nuhu Ribadu, the then Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] to open a file on Nasir El Rufai to investigate his activities. And as instructed, Nuhu Ribadu opened an investigation on his good friend, Nasir El Rufai.

So as President Yar’dua took to the mantle following the 2007 election, Nasir El Rufai’s fate was already sealed. This was after Obasanjo had placated Nasir El Rufai to drop his quest to become the PDP flag bearer with a promise of a lucrative position in the Yar’dua administration. According to sources close to El Rufai, there was an existing agreement for President Yar’dua to appoint El Rufai the head of the energy team, of which President Yar’dua later reneged on - owing to what is believed to be his fear of El Rufai’s pending emergence to become the preferred Northern choice come 2011 campaign exercise. And it was against this background that El Rufai recently averred that “I do not think President Yar’dua is doing enough to even keep Nigeria at the level he found it. From what I read and hear, things are a bit worse than in May 2007.”

That notwithstanding, El Rufai who in his recent outcry to the international community of what he perceived as baseless allegations raised against him by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the offices of the Attorney General and the EFCC, attempted intensively to exploit the political flavour imbedded the charges brought against him. But as learnt, his outcry when dissected appears distant from the truth.

Investigation byUkpakareports.com show that Nasir El Rufai prior to travelling to Boston, United State of America for studies visited the EFCC upon invitation and paid N1million bail bond and told the EFCC that he was scheduled to sit for exams at school and needed six [6] weeks to complete his exams. To this, the EFCC granted him the six weeks requested. But as the six [6] elapsed, El Rufai was nowhere to be found. When the EFCC requested for his promised presence, he responded that the EFCC should send a questionnaire or see his lawyers instead. And in March 2009, El Rufai hired the services of the United Kingdom/Canada based law firm by the name Amsterdam and Peroff. Without delay, the principal, Robert Amsterdam released a statement charging that “the accusations against El Rufai are politically motivated and intended to destroy the reputation of a Nigerian reformer and a results-oriented technocrat and hence destroy the very nation of reform.”

Peeved by the insinuation that the Federal Government is witching him via the offices of the EFCC, as the statement of the lawyer indicate, the EFCC told Ukpakareports.com that “the case against Nasir El Rufai was not started by the current EFCC regime, but by his good friend, Nuhu Ribadu in 2007”. This is while referring to the actions of El Rufai as “absolute falsehood and blackmail. He has a case to answer. We have filed a case in law court. We are not going to put handcuffs on him or jail him illegally.” It was further learnt that petitions filed against the former minister originated from the corporate authorities of Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria [PHCN] and Nigeria Postal Authority [NIPOST] – charging that the former minister illegally took lands belonging to the two corporate bodies and gave them to his family members and to friends of his. Both the offices of Attorney General and EFCC have indicated that they have filed court papers against El Rufai to commence the extradition process.

However, a new development in the unfolding saga appears interjecting itself in a manner that does not sit well with the office of the President. This is as Ukpakareports.com has gathered that El Rufai in tandem with Nuhu Ribadu has decided to “spill the beans” on possibly incriminating activities that is sure to catch the interest of the international community. It is learnt that El Rufai have in his possession sensitive files and documents of which he intends to make available to the world community should the Nigerian government proceed with his extradition. And to avert the realization of the threat, the former trusted aide to Obasanjo in the person of Nnamdi “Andy” Uba was dispatched by President Yar’dua to Boston for a special meeting with Nasir El Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu. The meeting is believed to have taken place on the weekend of April 18th 2009. Ukpakareports.com does have details of the said meeting.

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