Nasir El-Rufai, the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who was arrested this morning by the State Security Service, is about to become a free man again after the publisher of Thisday newspaper, Nduka Obaigbena intervened on his behalf.
Mr. El Rufai is reportedly being granted bail with Obaigbena, who has a variety of tentacles in the federal government, as surety.  Mr. El Rufai recently joined the governing board of Thisday newspapers.

Earlier, Mr. El Rufai's arrest by the SSS was strongly condemned by presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Muhammad Buhari, in a widely-circulated press release. In addition, the social media networks have been buzzing with discussions of the arrest, with many contributors condemning the Nigerian authorities over El Rufai's arrest.

SaharaReporters has also learned that the government put pressure on Mr. El Rufai to tone down his critical views about the government as a condition for dropping the charges against him.  It was however unknown at the time of this story if the CPC chieftain, who has always held strong views, agreed to tone down his writings his bail paperwork is still being processed.

Mr. El Rufai was arrested today at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja upon arrival from the United Kingdom where he had gone to help present the CPC's position at Chatham House, the influential foreign policy institution, in London.
The government has proposed to charge him with sedition and public incitement in connection with an article he published on June 30 questioning the defense spending of the Jonathan government. The federal government is expected to put out a rejoinder to be widely circulated debunking the critical piece.

Saharareporters was told that Mr. El Rufai had been told not to write any follow up articles that might interfere with the rejoinder.  It would be interesting to see how this plays out, as he has only recently become a columnist with Thisday newspapers and frequently syndicates his columns through social media outlets and Nigerian websites.


http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/sss-release-el-rufai-tonight-may-drop-charges

I hope this is mere rumour.

GEJ signs FOI Act with one hand, and arrests someone for writing an opinion in a newspaper for "sedition and public incitement". If this is true then they should be prepared to charge hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions more because if this kind of behavior becomes a habit the sound of our voices will be pursuing them even when they sleep.

This "sedition and public incitement" law is one of those the NA assembly need to strike down or narrow its scope significantly.

The government has proposed to charge him with sedition and public incitement in connection with an article he published on June 30 questioning the defense spending of the Jonathan government. The federal government is expected to put out a rejoinder to be widely circulated debunking the critical piece.