El-Rufai’s Mother Died Because Of His Son’s Detention By FG – Kenneth Okonkwo

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Nollywood celebrated figure-turned political actor Kenneth Okonkwo, a Barrister-at-law, has insisted that the arrest and detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai by state-backed institutions was at the heart of the death of his mother, Hajia Umma El-Rufai.

This is as he posited that the sudden grant of bail to El-Rufai by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to attend his mother’s funeral remains an eloquent testimony that the Government of the day is controlling the affairs of the Judiciary in the country.

The Source reports that El-Rufai who had been in the custody of the ICPC since February 18, was on March 28, 2026 granted temporary and  compassionate bail to enable him participate in the burial ceremony of his mother who passed on ,on March 27 ,in Cairo Egypt.

Okonkwo who spoke in an interview with Symponi TV remained adamant that the psychological shock and trauma arising from the arrest and detention of El-Rufai killed her mother.

“I give you a good example of what happened in El-Rufai’s case. As far as I’m concerned, it was the incarceration of El-Rufai that killed his mother.

“You know when mothers get to that age (90 years) , they become so sentimental, and emotional.

“Let me tell you,there was a time that somebody told my mother that thieves burgled the residences of some her children, she felt so bad that they had to call religious preachers to come and talk to her.

“Then you can imagine the case of an aged mother who was told about the arrest and detention of her son . And may be ,some people might also have told her that her son has died. That was what killed her in my own opinion” Okonkwo stated.

Okonkwo ,a known ally of Atiku Abubakar, also pointed out that the death of El-Rufai’s mother  highlighted a disturbing reality about the tight grip the All Progressive Congress -Federal Government has on the country’s Judiciary.

He expressed serious concern that the ICPC could grant bail to El-Rufai without reference to the Court that ordered his detention.

According to him, the ICPC’s gesture supposedly on the directive of the Federal Government is a clear indication that the Country’s Judiciary is under the control of the executive branch of Government.

“When the woman died that was when they remembered that they will release El-Rufai without a court order; meaning that they (Government) are the ones using the Judiciary because you can’t disobey the order of the Court just at will”, he added.