Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the police order halting a planned meeting of the African Democratic Congress leaders in the state, insisting the action violated constitutional provisions.
Our reporter reports that the disruption follows violent events at an opposition gathering last Saturday, during which suspected thugs stormed the inauguration of a transition committee in Kaduna, targeting leaders from a coalition including the ADC, PDP, SDP, NNPP, and LP.
The attackers, armed with cutlasses, clubs, and stones, injured several participants and destroyed property, while police presence drew criticism for inaction.
El-Rufai condemned the violence, describing it as a โdangerous descent into lawlessness,โ and affirmed that lawful political assembly should proceed without undue interference.
Speaking at a press conference at his Kaduna residence on Thursday, El-Rufai said the meeting was meant for the ADC North-West leadership to commiserate with members over last Saturdayโs attack by suspected thugs on party members.
โThe plan was that the ADC leadership in the North-West are in Kaduna to commiserate with us over the incident of Saturday. And we were going to have that visit in our office.
โThe police commissioner wrote to say that we canโt hold it in the state,โ he explained.
Speaking further, he accused the police of overreaching their powers, claiming that the state Commissioner of Police obtained a court injunction stopping the meeting without properly serving it on the affected persons.
โHe knows what heโs writing violates the Constitution. This morning, he invited the national vice chairman, North-West, and waved a piece of paper claiming they had obtained a court order stopping us from having that meeting. We have not seen the court order.
