Coalition urges due process in El-Rufai detention The Coalition Political Action Committee (COPAC) has called on the Federal Government to strictly comply with due process in the detention of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir Elel-Rufai. In a statement on Sunday by its Convener, Aminu Datti-Ahmed, COPAC said the 14-day remand order earlier obtained by investigators in the case had expired and should not be used to justify prolonged detention. “The 14-day remand order obtained by investigators in the case involving Nasir El-Rufai has expired. That order was granted for a specific and limited purpose, to allow investigators complete their work within a defined constitutional window. “It was not granted as a licence for indefinite detention, procedural manipulation, or political theatre,” the coalition said. COPAC noted that Section 35 of the Constitution guarantees the liberty of citizens and provides that investigative detention must either lead to formal charges or the release of the detainee within a reasonable time. “The Federal Government must therefore understand that it must now do one of two things in the case involving El-Rufai: file formal charges before a court or release the detainee immediately,” the group said. According to the coalition, any option outside these legal steps would amount to a violation of constitutional rights. “Anything outside these clearly defined legal options would amount to acting illegally and unconstitutionally, and would render the continued detention an abuse of state power and a violation of the constitutional rights guaranteed to every Nigerian citizen,” it said. The group added that prolonged detention could also contravene Nigeria’s obligations under international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. COPAC also expressed concern about what it described as a growing pattern in which state institutions deploy investigative powers against political actors in ways that raise questions about “selectivity, timing, and motive.” It urged prominent opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Aminu Tambuwal, Rotimi Amaechi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, to speak out. “This is why silence from other opposition leaders at this moment is both dangerous and irresponsible,” the coalition said. “This is not about El-Rufai. This is about the law being a level playing field. The rule of law must never become a selective weapon used against those who fall out of favour with those who hold power.” The coalition maintained that the government must either charge the former governor or release him, stating, “If the government has evidence, it should file charges. If it does not, it must release the detainee. “The law is not optional. The Constitution is not a suggestion. And the Nigerian people will not remain silent if the guarantees of liberty written into our Constitution are treated as expendable. “Nigeria is a constitutional democracy, not a police state.”