By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Former Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has described the decision of the former Governor of Kaduna State Malam Nasir El-Rufai to submit himself to Government Security Agencies as a terrible miscalculation.
The Source reports that El-Rufai, had on Monday, February 16, 2026, voluntarily honoured an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after his return from Egypt.
El-Rufai has since February 18, 2026, been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, after he wA granted bail by the EFCC.
His bail application before a Federal High Court Kaduna, where he was arraigned on Tuesday, March 24, by the ICPC after over 30 days in custody, is billed for ruling on March 3I, 2026, by the presiding Judge, Honourable Justice Rilwan Aikawa.
Speaking in an interview with Trust TV, Dalung, a vociferous critic of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration disclosed that the Tinubu administration is so scared of El-Rufai that it can go to any length to keep him out of circulation.
According to him, it was a great error of judgment on the part of the former Kaduna State Governor, to have walked himself into the hands of security agencies.
“El-Rufai made a great mistake by turning himself in to security agencies.
“The Government is really afraid of El-Rufai, which is why they decided to arrest him at the airport. But they (Government) equally knew that trying to arrest him could lead to some unintended consequences.
“So for El-Rufai to voluntarily submit himself was a great mistake for a comrade and a fighter.
“El-Rufai chose to downplay the whole thing by giving himself up which was the biggest mistake he made as a fellow comrade .
“Comrades don’t surrender. If you give up during a fight, you will end up feeling ashamed. It is an established principle in struggle. When they strive to achieve something, they become very careful”, Dalung stated
According to the former Sports Minister, the Government was apprehensive, and seriously jittery over what El-Rufai can do, hence its desperate attempt to arrest him at the airport immediately after arrival from Egypt.
” They (Government) attempted to arrest him at the airport and it failed, and after that it dawned on them that any attempt to arrest El-Rufai could lead to unrest
“But El-Rufai himself decided to downplay the whole thing and surrendered himself, and that decision has proven to be a serious mistake” he added.
However, he equally praised the decision, as according to him, by voluntarily turning himself in, El-Rufai succeeded in putting the Federal Government agencies in to qaungmire, trying to shop for offences to slam on him.
” You see, at the time they (EFCC, ICPC) took him into custody ,they did not have any ready-made charges. That was the main reason they kept him for that long, running up and down, shopping for charges against him.
” El-Rufai’s trial will not result to anything because the foundation of the charges against him is built on illegality and not law”, Dalung noted.
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