By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
There are reports that Mr Bashir Saidu, former Chief of Staff to immediate past Governor of Kaduna state, North-Central Nigeria, Nasir El Rufai, has been arrested by security operatives.
Sources said he was picked up for alleged money laundering and sale of government properties, during the El Rufai administration.
El Rufai enjoyed a two-term tenure, 2015-2019 and 2019-2023.
But, friends of the ex-Chief of Staff have raised dust, questioning why an anti-terrorism security outfit should be used in hounding him over alleged political matters.
They also maintained that Saidu is innocent, saying he presented many documents to the security agents exculpating him of blame or liability in the matter,but that the agents would hear none of that.
The sources said Saidu was arraigned before a Kaduna Magistrate Court in Rigasa on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, where he was charged for the offences and later remanded in Kaduna Central Correctional Facility custody.
It was gathered that the stage was set for the drama when armed policemen laid ambush near Saidu’s residence at Coronation Crescent, Kaduna, the state capital.
Apparently not finding him there, they tracked and subsequently arrested him in Rigachikun area of the capital.
He was said to have been taken to the Operation Fushin Kada office on Constitution Road for questioning, before being arraigned before Magistrate Muhammad Lawal Musa’s court in Rigasa.
However, his associates are not taking the matter lying low as some have questioned the involvement of Operation Fushin Kada, formerly known as Operation Yaka, a police elite anti-terrorism, anti-kidnapping squad, in a political matter.
One of them, a male, queried: “I wonder why Operation Yaki, now Operation Fushin Kada, will involve itself in a clear case of political witch-hunt and repression against loyalists of former Governor El Rufai.
“The operatives have abandoned their job of protecting the citizens against bandits and kidnappers, to harass innocent citizens.
“It is strange that Operation Yaki is now preparing FIR (First Information Report) and filing charges against perceived opponents of the governor.
“Despite providing a statement and other materials denying involvement in money laundering and the sale of 12 government houses, Saidu was still taken to court.”
After hearing the prosecution and defence counsel, Magistrate Musa rejected a bail application for Saidu and ordered his remand at the Kaduna Correctional Facility.
The case was adjourned to January 21, 2025.
It will be recalled that the State House of Assembly had earlier in a report indicted El Rufai for allegedly syphoning public funds to the tune of over N423 billion –a claim which he vehemently denied.
In a seeming crackdown on his loyalists amid official announcement of efforts to recover what the current government saw as missing public property, several officials of the El Rufai government are presently facing charges either in the state or at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over alleged fraud and unlawful acquisition of state resources to allegedly enrich themselves.
When journalists called the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Uba Sani, Ibraheem Musa, for comments on the Saidu matter, he did not take his calls neither did he respond to Short Message Service (SMS) texts forwarded to his line.
