Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said he feels abandoned and betrayed by some of the people he previously supported, as he continues to remain in detention over allegations linked to wiretapping.
El-Rufai, who said he had spent 218 days in detention, made the remarks in a statement shared on social media while reflecting on his relationships and experiences during the period.
The former governor said he had supported people and causes based on his convictions, often at considerable personal cost, without expecting gratitude or reciprocity.
“Over the years, I have stood by people and for causes I believed in, sometimes in difficult circumstances and at considerable personal cost. I did so not in expectation of praise, gratitude or reciprocity, but because I believed it was right. Those were choices I made freely, and I remain answerable for them,” El-Rufai said.
He added that his experience in detention had caused him to reassess some of his relationships and the expectations placed on people who look up to him.
“Adversity has a way of illuminating relationships. What I learn in difficult times like the past few months may lead me, quietly and without regret, to reconsider the nature of certain relationships and what those that look up to me expect of them. That is neither reproach nor condemnation; it is simply part of seeing people, and life, more clearly,” he said.
El-Rufai said he would not seek revenge or retribution over what he described as injustice, ingratitude or injury done to him.
“As for any injustice, ingratitude or injury done to me, I seek neither revenge nor retribution. Ultimate accountability belongs to Almighty Allah, and I leave that judgment to Him, in this world and in the Hereafter,” he said.
The former governor has reportedly remained in detention since February 18 following an investigation by an anti-graft agency into an alleged N432 billion money-laundering case arising from a petition by the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said El-Rufai was being held under a court remand order.
He was, however, briefly released in March to attend the burial of his late mother.
El-Rufai had also admitted in an interview to intercepting the telephone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, an allegation that has featured in the controversy surrounding his detention.
