Headline

A Seminar to End All Seminars – Tribute to Adebayo Williams at 70

Published

5 years ago

September 8, 2021

Eric

By Hon Femi Kehinde

Sometime in 1986, during the military jackboot and gestapo style of governance in Nigeria, Adebayo Williams, then a teacher of Literature-in-English, at the University of Ife, was invited to Lagos, to deliver a public lecture at a seminar, purposely convoked, to discuss democracy. Mindful of the possibility of arrest after his delivery, which may be acerbic and unpleasant to the men of power, he ably, titled his lecture at this seminar- A seminar to end all seminars.

This lecture was published in major newspapers of the day. Despite this premonition of a possible arrest, Adebayo has gone ahead to deliver so many seminal works and intellectual papers at various fora across the globe, and has lived to be 70 years; the seminars have not ended.

First and foremost, I am eminently qualified to write Adebayo’s story. Adebayo’s mother, Maria Oyedun Williams was my maternal grandfather’s (Kasumu Oyekanmi) immediate younger sister. Kasumu begat my mother, Elizabeth Wulemotu Boladale Aduke Kehinde – the late Iyalode of Gbonganland . From this vantage position, I have known, and lived under the guidance and mentorship of Adebayo- a much older brother, like a father, for six decades.

Adebayo Biala Alamu Williams, was born on the 9th of September, 1951, to late Pa Johnson Bolarinwa Williams and late Mama Maria Oyedun Williams, of Ile Keti Compound, Gbongan in Osun State.

He was named Biala, because Oyedun had him as her first fruit of the womb, when she was slightly above 40 years. Adebayo’s arrival, to her and the family, was like a dream – Bi Ala! In the trajectory of his life, he has lived that name. Adebayo’s chequered life cannot certainly be different from life’s alloy’s fundamental principles.

A brief chronicle of his life tells the story.

Adebayo’s father, Johnson Bolarinwa of the Gbongan/Modakeke stock, was one of Gbongan’s early political elites. In his early days, he was a UAC factor in Gbongan, in charge of cocoa produce in the big conglomerate. He later ventured into politics, and became Gbongan’s first elected councillor, after the advent of the Macpherson constitution of 1951, that brought fresh elites into political relevance.

He was elected on the platform of the NCNC of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and later became a big stalwart of the Samuel Ladoke Akintola’s NNDP government of the Western Region. He was a key participant in the UPGA/DEMO Saga in Gbongan, that erupted as a result of the uproars of the 1965 Western Regional elections.

In the NCNC/NNDP, he was very friendly, with the likes of Adegoke Adelabu, Fani Kayode (Fani Power) Richard Akinjide, Adeoye Adisa, and his political comrades in Gbongan – Atanda and Ogunyele. J.B Williams, popularly known as “Willy” in Gbongan, had his house razed to the ground, in the ‘operation Wetie’, that erupted upon the overthrow of the first civilian government and the advent of military interregnum, on the 15th of January, 1966. Kasumu (Oyedun’s senior brother), did not live too long. He was a victim of the dreaded small pox (sanponna) epidemic of 1947.

As a result of the death of Kasumu in 1947, Wulemotu was in the early care and mentorship of Kasumu’s younger sister – Oyedun, who begat Professor Adebayo Williams, and Evangelist. Taiwo Williams. Interestingly, on the opposite side of the divide, Chief (Mrs.) Wulemotu Aduke Kehinde, the late Iyalode of Gbongan land, who was also an active participant of the Akintola/Awolowo Saga of the first republic, led the women vanguards of UPGA, and was clamped into police detention on spurious charges, not unconnected to Political Vendetta.

Gbongan was founded by a man named Olufiade (short form, Olufi.) Olufiade was a direct descendant of Alaafin Abiodun Adegoriolu, who reigned in Oyo, between 1750 and 1789. Olufi contested for the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo after the demise of his father, but lost to another prince. He had to leave Oyo as tradition demanded, and was followed by many Oyo Citizens, that were sympathetic to his struggle for the throne of Alaafin.

Olufi and his entourage left Oyo via Igbori route, stayed there for some time, and then moved to Soungbe, from where they finally got to Gbongan-Ile. The Olufi carried along from Oyo, a beaded crown, which made his followers recognise him, not only as an Oyo Prince, but an Oba in his own right.

The unrest that wrecked the stability of Oyo, also affected many Oyo towns, and this allowed marauders to penetrate several Oyo towns, including Gbangan-Ile. Olufi and his followers had to migrate to a more forested location, which was more secure, than the former location. The present Gbongan is situated in the forest belt of Osun State. This is why at the present location, we have such settlements like Eke-Egan, Oke Apata, Ile-Opo, Aiyepe, Ile Keti, and Owo-Ope. Gbongan town, is watered by a network of streams like Oyunlola, Akinjole, Alaanu, Oleyo, Yemoja and Elu.

Her Eastern boundary with Ile-Ife is the big Sasa River. This present Gbongan was founded around 1825. The fact that Gbongan was headed by an Oba attracted many people to settle there and the thick forest location, provided security for the population from the invaders. By the middle of the 19th century, the community, which started as a small settlement at Gbongan Ile by 1790, had grown to become one of the largest towns in her area.
Intriguingly, Adebayo bears a surname, that has hidden his “Ara Oke” stock and identity – a Gbangan/Modakeke man to the core. As a local breed of that environment, Adebayo attended St. Luke’s Anglican Primary School, Gbongan, with the likes of Wale Adenuga of the Ikebe Fame, whose father, was then though of Ijebu stock, a prominent businessman in Gbongan. He later relocated his business to Ile-Ife, but his Adenuga Street in Gbongan, is still a beautiful reminder of his long sojourn in the Gbongan community.

After Adebayo’s Primary education, he was admitted to the Gbongan-Odeomu Anglican Grammar School, Gbongan, for the early part of his Secondary Education, under the principalship of Mr. G.A Adeyemo – an Ibadan man.

He had a brief stint in Gbongan-Odeomu Anglican Grammar School as a result of the relocation of his father, J.B Williams (Willy), to Modakeke, after the destruction of his house in Gbongan, due to the violence of 1966. In Modakeke, where he had now relocated to with his father, he also had a brief stint at the Oranmiyan Memorial Grammar School, Ile-Ife, from where he then moved into the world, to chart and navigate a destined course of life.

Briefly, he was a Primary school teacher at Telemu, near Iwo, in present day Ola Oluwa Local Government Area of Osun State. As a precocious young man, he certainly did not enjoy the life of holding the chalk in front of infants, and also perhaps, a disdain for the rural life of Telemu. He bolted out from Telemu and got a job as a sub editor with late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Nigerian Tribune against his father’s wish. J.B Williams had a nauseating disdain for the Action Group. Adebayo was now engaged in the profession of journalism, which was described as “only that belonging to the flotsam and jetsam of the society,” by Ernest Ikoli- a doyen of Journalism practice in Nigeria and former president of the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM).

He left the Nigerian Tribune in 1971, and was admitted to the University of Ife, to study English Language. The University of Ife, established by an Act of Parliament of the Western Region in 1961, under the premiership of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, admitted its first set of 244 students in September, 1962, with 5 faculties, of which the Faculty of Arts was one of them. The University took off at the current site of the North Campus of the Ibadan Polytechnic, that was then known as the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, with Professor Oladele Ajose as its first Vice Chancellor. In 1967, the University moved to its permanent site in Ile-Ife on the 130, 000 Acres of land donated by the people of Ile-Ife and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Titus Martins Tadeniawo Adesoji Aderemi, then Governor of the Western Region. The Ife Campus, adjudged as the most beautiful campus in Africa, was designed by the Isreali Architect, Arieh Sharon, together with a team of Nigerian Architects, including Lagos based Architect, A. A Egbor, in the 1960s. They gave Ife the beauty, the elegance and the picturesque sceneries, that made the university a great haven for learning and culture. This was the university that trained Adebayo Williams, from where he graduated, and which later employed him, as a lecturer of English Literature.

After a successful completion of his university education at the Great Ife, he went for his National Youth Service in the then Eastern Region of Nigeria, specifically in Enugu, and thereafter, secured a teaching appointment with the Federal Ministry of Education, and was posted to the Federal Government College, Kaduna as a classroom teacher, where he also mentored so many students, who are now distinguished in various fields of human endeavours.

It was in Kaduna that he met his heartthrob. Bolanle, an Ogbomosho lady, and a nursing sister, working in a Government hospital in Zaria, and whom he later married, and had three children – Bisola, Adeola and Oladipupo.

The classroom in Kaduna could not guarantee and secure the future that Adebayo dreamt of and envisaged. He had been granted a car loan, and bought a brand new Volkswagen Passat car, but nonetheless, his dream was expansive. He dreamt of a world that would bring out the intellectual profundity in him. He secured an employment with the University of Ife, and was admitted to pursue his Masters Degree course, and also teach English Literature as a graduate assistant; and then the meteoric rise. In the 1981/82 session, while still a Visiting Graduate Student Lecturer, Adebayo was appointed Honorary Visiting Lecturer, Department of English, University of Sheffield, England.

In that capacity, he gave lectures and seminars in the new areas of Theories of African Literature. In 1983, Adebayo was awarded a Doctorate Degree in Theory of African Literature. In 1986, he became a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, from where he began the journey again, to traverse the world. Adebayo was popularly known as Larry B or Tatolo Alamu – a pen name, by his friends and admirers. Tatalo Alamu, was a pioneer of Sekere, a type of Yoruba traditional music. A native of Ibadan, he was popular in Yorubaland, through out the 1950s and early 1960s. Adebayo, returned to Nigeria in 2006, after serving as a Professor in various universities in America and Europe.

Aside from his various intellectual engagements, Adebayo had also served, as chairman, Lagos State Electoral Reform Panel, between 2008 and 2010, member, Board of Trustees, Obafemi Awolowo Institute for Governance and Public Policy 2009 till date, and chairman, Lagos State Gubernatorial Advisory Committee, 2010 to 2018, under Governors Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode.

In 1995, Professor Williams was appointed the Director-General of Africa Policy Group – a London based Think-tank, which addresses issues of governance crucial to Africa. Earlier in 1991, while still teaching at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Professor Williams, was made a director of the USAID-sponsored project on Governance and Democratization in Africa.

In 1997, he returned to the Centre of African Studies, University of Birmingham, as a visiting lecturer and Honourary Research fellow, a position he held till 2006. He had earlier served in the same department as Leverhulme Fellow, between 1988 to 1990.

In November 1998, Professor Williams became a Fellow of African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, Holland and Professor of Liberal Arts, Savannah, College of Arts and Design, Georgia, USA. In January, 2004, Professor Williams assumed duty as the Amy Freeman Lee Distinguished Chair of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of The Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas USA. He has also served as jury/professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure in France.

In the course of a distinguished career, spanning almost fifty years. Professor Williams has won many Laurels in scholarship, journalism and creative writing, including winning, twice both The Association of Nigerian Authors Prize in 1988 and 1995, and the Alade Odunewu prize for Informed Commentary in 1993 and 2000.

In addition, he has served as mentor and iconic source of inspiration for many generations of Nigerians, who look up to him as a source of guidance and political compass. Adebayo, a man of profound wit, fecund mind and intellect, was once asked a nagging question – “Would you agree that Tinubu’s role in the Afenifere crisis contributed to the death of Pa Adesanya?”

He responded rather brusquely: “I am yet to see the death certificate of Pa Adesanya, so I wouldn’t know. But I know that he died of age related infirmity. He might have been heartbroken about development in the organisation particularly on how things ought to have been done.”

He was one of the brains behind the first ever Nigerian Political summit, chaired by Pa Adekunle Ajasin at Eko Hotel, Lagos. Adebayo yearns and clamours for a restructured Nigeria, and he said in an interview session –
“We have been saying that Nigerians need to sit down and talk. I have been saying this for the past 20 years that elections will not resolve national questions. In fact, it worsens it. We have seen situation, where elections led directly to civil war in many African countries. When you think that democracy is solely synonymous to election, that is what they call electoralism. Election is just one aspect of democracy, so the way we are going, if we are not careful, Nigeria is heading for a terminal crisis. If we cannot talk among ourselves, eventually, the United Nations (UN) may be forced to come and supervise a talk in this country. That is my prediction, and I have no apology for saying this.”

He added: “The masses are so important, so are the elites. My fear is that if we go to this election with this kind of mindset, particularly in the current ruling class, a winner may emerge but the contending contradiction may make the country ungovernable for such a winner and then we just begin to slide towards Mogadishu.”

In other words, victory without success. It was a prophetic interview. This interview session was in 2019, before the 2019 election.

As a crowning glory, Adebayo Williams is one of Nigeria’s best known scholars and globally recognised academics, with over a thousand publications, with over six books to his credit. He is a polyvalent intellectual scholar. He had been columnist to NewsWatch Magazine between 1985 and 1990, African Concord, between 1990 and 1992, Tempo/The News – 1993 to 1995, The Nation, 2007 till date, and African Today as columnist and editor at large – 1995 till date.

Adebayo Williams, a man of sartorial taste and elegance, loves good cars, wine and intellectual environment.
When Obafemi Awolowo was 70 years on the 6th of March, 1979, and at a campaign rally at the Mapo Hall, Ibadan, the enthusiastic crowd of UPN party faithful and stalwarts, thronged to the Mapo Hall Rally, to welcome Chief Awolowo to the Presidential Campaign rally, and thenceforth, was referred to as Papa Obafemi Awolowo, with a deafening shouts of Papa Awo!!! Awo!!! Awo!!! So as a fresh mint 70 year old man, do we now call Adebayo, Papa Adebayo Williams? He certainly does not possess the gait and look of a 70 year old man.

I have known Adebayo Williams, as my mother’s younger brother, and I grew to know him as a mentor, role model and pathfinder, who has certainly added values to my life of six decades. He ensured my transition or relocation from the Department of History in Ile-Ife, to the Faculty of Law, through the able supports of Mr. Itsey Sagay, now Professor of Law, then Dean of the Faculty of Law; Dr. Kehinde Olupona, now Professor of Religions; Professor Sola Ehindero, now Harvard University Professor of Religions, and Professor Fajana as Dean of the Faculty of Education.

Through this innumerable efforts, I now eat with two spoons – Historical and Biographical writings as a passion, law as a profession of almost four decades, and perhaps the third spoon-Politics as a vocation, being a former member of the House of Representatives in the National Assembly, all from a single plate, courtesy of the mentorship of Adebayo Williams.

In this enchanting drama of a life being lived well, let the music and the lyrics go on, because Adebayo Williams is the song and the melody. In a society that places scant values on its egg heads – Adebayo Biala Alamu Williams – may you continue to live well, even now as a statesman and Septuagenarian.

Happy birthday!!!

Hon (Barr) Femi Kehinde is a legal practitioner and former member of the House of Representatives,
representing Ayedire/Iwo/Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency, Osun State (1999-2003).

Headline

ADC Tells Tinubu to Resign As World Bank Reveals 139million Nigerians Live in Poverty

Published

2 days ago

July 20, 2026

Eric

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Saturday asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign rather than seek re-election, asserting that the World Bank’s recent report showing that 139 million Nigerians live below the poverty line is his scorecard.

“The evidence of 139 million people living in poverty and 17 million at risk of starvation is President Tinubu’s scorecard,” the party said. “On account of this catastrophic failure alone, President Tinubu should be contemplating resigning from office rather than seeking re-election.”

It decried that the “catastrophic” situation was occasioned by the Tinubu administration’s policies, which it said, “have favoured money over people and statistics over survival.”

The opposition party maintained that the economic growth Mr Tinubu’s government has repeatedly boasted of as a result of its economic reforms is “meaningless” if the livelihoods of people at the grassroots have yet to improve since 2023, when he assumed office.

“Instead of changing course, the government has stubbornly stuck with its ruinous economic policies and even continues to market recklessness as courage and wickedness as ‘necessary pains.’

“However, three years down the line, it is now clear that the chicken has come home to roost,” the ADC said.

According to the party, Nigeria desperately needs a leader who truly cares about citizens’ well-being and understands that economic reforms should improve citizens’ lives, not worsen their misery.

“A president whose government is not openly feasting while asking the people to continue fasting. A government that does not wallow in profligacy while handing the people palliatives,” it added.

The party condemned the ruling APC’s social intervention programmes aimed at cushioning the effects of its economic policies, adding, “Poverty cannot be defeated through palliatives.”

The ADC pledged that if elected in 2027, it would tackle the root causes of hunger by reducing energy costs, enhancing food production, and ensuring that farmers returned to their farmlands.

It also vowed to rehabilitate the 264 abandoned dams, improve access to fertilisers and quality seeds, and invest in storage facilities.

According to the party, transportation, waste, and food prices would be reduced while creating productive jobs.

“Hunger cannot be separated from poverty, education, or healthcare. That is why an ADC government will prioritise nutrition, primary healthcare, quality basic education, and skills development because no nation can build a prosperous economy while millions of its children are hungry, out of school, or cannot read simple texts,” the party said.

Headline

‘Punishment Before Trial’: The Travails of Nasir El-Rufai

Published

2 days ago

July 19, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

For 150 days and counting, a former Governor of Kaduna State, and one time Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has remained in the custody of various security agencies including the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged offences ranging from fund misappropriation, wiretapping and eavesdropping on security information among others. El-Rufai has not been found of any offence though he has spent over 150 days in custody.

The former governor’s plight was brought back to the fore weekend, when his wife, Asia Ahmad El-Rufai, made a passionate appeal to the international community to intervene over what she described as her husband’s prolonged detention and alleged denial of due process.

Mrs El-Rufai argued that the former governor’s continued incarceration amounted to “punishment before trial” and posed a threat to Nigeria’s democratic institutions. She noted that her husband has not been fairly treated even as she alleged that the former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) may have taken ill in custody, bleeding from both nose and mouth. She wondered how someone, could made to undergo such severe punishment even when he is not undergone any trial, let alone being found guilty.

In a statement she signed herself, released his social media handles to mark what she described as the 150th day of El-Rufai’s detention, El-Rufai’s wife called on foreign governments, multilateral and multinational organisations and international human rights groups to closely monitor the legal proceedings involving her husband.

She acknowledged not speaking as a political actor but as a wife and mother seeking fairness for a member of her family.

The woman was of the opinion that the period of her husband’s incarceration without trial, has taken a significant emotional and physical toll on the former governor, members of his family and close associates.

“On the 150th day of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s detention, I ask readers outside Nigeria to pause over what that number means. One hundred and fifty days is not a legal phrase.

“It is five months of missed meals, missed prayers, missed proper mourning of his deceased mother, missed family conversations, interrupted medical care and moments we can never recover,” she said.

Acknowledging that her husband had been a controversial figure during his more than two decades in public service, as well as how rule of law and democracy should play out, she observed that “My husband is no stranger to controversy or public scrutiny. He has been praised, criticised, loved and opposed. That is democracy.

“But what is happening to him today is not democracy, and it is not accountability. It is punishment before trial,” she said.

Continuing and reflecting on the origin of the travails of her husband, Mrs El-Rufai traced his confrontation with the law to when am attempt was first made to arrest him at the airport on his way back from Egypt. The embarrassing situation at the airport culminated in his appearance for questioning, and ever since he has been allowed except when he was momentarily permitted to go and bury his dead mother.

She said, “There was the sudden invitation, his voluntary appearance before the authorities, and the promise of bail that existed on paper but not in freedom.

“There was the night he was moved between locations without warning and without the dignity of allowing his family to know where he was being taken,” she stated.

Asia also alleged that the former governor became seriously ill while in custody and experienced bleeding from his nose and mouth.

She claimed that officials were reluctant to provide him with adequate medical attention or allow his family to deliver his prescribed medication.

“I still remember the helplessness of hearing that he had fallen gravely ill in custody, bleeding from his nose and mouth, while those responsible for his welfare were reluctant to provide the care any person deserves.

“I remember the anxiety of trying to get his medication to him and wondering whether officials would accept it,” she said.

According to her, the detention had inflicted emotional distress on the family, which continued to wait for the legal process to take its course.

“These are not abstract violations. They are the moments that chip away at a family’s resolve and hope,” she added.

While not requesting that her husband be placed above the law, or escape investigation as a public officer, she insisted that such investigations must be conducted transparently, and in accordance with constitutional safeguards.

“If the state believes it has evidence, let it be presented before an impartial court, openly and fairly.

“But justice cannot be selective. It cannot be pursued through overlapping charges, repeated detention, impossible bail conditions and public humiliation designed to persuade the nation of guilt before a judge has heard the case,” she said.

She accused the government of the day of orchestrating the gory details of the situation, including stringent bail conditions to deprive her husband of freedom, even as the election approaches, stressing that Nigeria was drifting from legitimate accountability towards “lawfare,” which she described as the deployment of legal institutions and judicial procedures as political weapons. She believes that El-Rufai’s problems are the consequence of his disagreement with President Bola Tinubu, and his eventual decanting from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The concern is not whether former officials may be investigated; they can and should be.

“The concern is whether the law is being applied neutrally or deployed against those who have fallen out of political favour,” she said.

“His political rupture with President Bola Tinubu’s ruling All Progressives Congress and his refusal to surrender his independent voice should not make him a target for indefinite punishment or detention disguised as prosecution,” she said.

“The legal architecture”, she continued, “surrounding him is bewildering even to trained observers: multiple charges in different courts, overlapping allegations, shifting statutory theories and duplicated claims arising from the same alleged events.

“If one application for bail is made and the conditions are met, another accusation can be filed the next day. If one judge must consider freedom, another process can be used to delay it,” she alleged, querying why such procedures was allowed to turn the judicial process into a form of punishment before conviction.

In March 2026, the ICPC arraigned El-Rufai, alongside one Joel Adoga, before Honourable Justice A.I. Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Kaduna Division, on a 10-count charge bordering on abuse of office, money laundering and fraud.

According to the charge sheet marked FHC/KD/73/2026, the former governor was accused of unlawfully receiving multiple sums of money in naira and foreign currencies while serving as a public officer.

Specifically, the Commission alleged that El-Rufai, in September 2020 and January 2023, received the sum of N289,826,998.12 on each occasion as severance allowance, far exceeding the legally entitled sum of N20,013,245.00, being 300 percent of his annual basic salary.

The ICPC charge further revealed that between 2016 and 2023, the former governor allegedly took control of various sums in United States Dollars through his domiciliary account with Guaranty Trust Bank. These include $320,800 allegedly paid in tranches by Joel Adoga, as well as other deposits amounting to $155,800, $305,300, and several smaller sums from different individuals, all reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

Joel Adoga was also accused of conspiring with the former governor in July 2019 to disguise the origin of $10,000 deposited into the said account.

One of the counts reads that both defendants, in July 2019 at Wuse, Abuja, allegedly conspired to disguise the origin of $10,000 paid into the former governor’s domiciliary account, knowing or reasonably ought to have known that the funds formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activity, contrary to and punishable under relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

When the charges were read, both defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts, but they were ordered to be remanded in ICPC custody.

The ICPC further violated the court-ordered access to the former governor, saying that the order did not override the agency’s internal security rules.

In May 2026, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted El-Rufai N100 million bail in the trial over the alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. However, he was re-arrested right at the court premises by the DSS, prompting the family to raise alarm.

EL-RUFAI’S STRINGENT BAIL CONDITIONS

Much as the embattled former Kaduna governor was granted bail, the conditions have appeared too stringent and tough to meet, the situation that prompted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) among many other concerned Nigerians to react.

In its immediate reaction, the ADC accused the Federal Government of turning El-Rufai into a political prisoner, describing his ordeal as “political persecution dressed up as prosecution.”

El-Rufai’s family also condemned the re-arrest.

El-Rufai’s second wife, Hasiat, who addressed journalists outside the DSS facility, said the family was traumatised by the development and lived daily under the shadow of threats and surveillance.

“We now live in constant fear. Every day we get a threat — DSS is coming to raid your house, ICPC is coming to raid your house, police are coming to raid your house. You are being followed. Our phones are tapped,” she said.

As part of the bail conditions, the trial judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to produce a surety who must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17.

According to the court, the surety must not only be resident in either Maitama or Asokoro highbrow districts of Abuja, but must also deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property not valued below the bail sum.

It held that the surety must also provide evidence of receipt of salary for at least three months, with an authenticated letter from the manager of a bank within the jurisdiction of the court.

It added that a verification letter from the surety’s immediate department must be submitted alongside a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.

The defendant was further mandated to surrender his valid international passports and directed not to travel out of the country without permission.

Justice Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to report to the headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS, every last Friday of the month by 10 a.m. to sign an attendance register, pending the determination of the case. The former governor was also directed to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council.

The trial judge warned that failure to comply with any of the conditions would lead to an automatic revocation of the bail.

Expressing its position on the travails of the former governor, the ADC, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said “What is happening to Mallam El-Rufai confirms beyond all doubt that this detention is no longer about justice, it is about politics.

“It also confirms our fears that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deploying the instruments of state power to keep one of the leading opposition figures out of circulation. This is political persecution dressed up as prosecution.”

ADC also drew comparisons between El-Rufai’s case and those involving former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, and former Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, both facing separate corruption allegations.

“When placed beside other high-profile cases, the contrast becomes stark and shameful. Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State, has been accused in an alleged N80.2 billion money laundering case.

‘’Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta State, was arrested over the alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion in derivation funds. But today, they are walking around free, singing President Tinubu’s campaign song,” the ADC statement noted.

However, unconfirmed feelers reaching The Boss have it that El-Rufai’s incarceration has a lot to do with keeping him away from the face politics till after the 2027 General elections. The truth, or otherwise behind the postulation remains to be seen. Nigerians have to wait till the former governor’s next appearance in court by September 2026, to determine the direction of his freedom.

Headline

Mary Habila’s Death: Tinubu Has Failed Comprehensively, Disgracefully – Atiku

Published

5 days ago

July 16, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

A former Vice President, and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has lashed out at the administration of President Bola Tinubu over its prolonged silence on the death of a medical practitioner, Mary Habila, who died at the residence of the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi.

Atiku condemned the inability of the Tinubu-led government from making any pronouncements or instituting any form of probe to unravel the cause of death since the sad incident occurred on June 27, 2026, saying the administration has failed comprehensively and disgracefully.

Atiku’s remarks are contained in a statement he released on his social platforms endorsed with his regular AA.

While not casting any blame on any particular person or entity, Atiku maintained that condolences are not enough,but must be accompanied by thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of the 26 years old medical practitioner in her prime.

The former Vice President therefore called for a “credible, independent, and transparent investigation” to establish the truth, noting that “it is the refusal of the Federal Government to guarantee such an investigation that constitutes the scandal before us”.

The statement in full:

I have followed with deep sorrow and mounting concern the reports surrounding the death of Miss Mary Habila, a 26-year-old Nigerian from Nok, Southern Kaduna, who died on June 27, 2026, within the private residence of the Honourable Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, in Uburu, Ebonyi State.

First, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the Habila family. No family should have to mourn a daughter taken in the prime of her life while also fighting simply to learn the truth of how she died.

But condolences are not enough. Nigerians deserve answers, and it is on this score that the Tinubu administration has failed, comprehensively and disgracefully.

Consider the facts that are not in dispute. A young woman died in the residence of a serving Federal Minister. For nearly two weeks, neither the Minister, nor the police, nor any arm of government said a word to the Nigerian people. It took the courage of Sahara Reporters to bring this death into public view. Three weeks after her death, no autopsy has been performed. No cause of death has been established. The investigation remains domiciled in the very state where the Minister served two terms as Governor and where his influence is beyond question.

And through all of this, silence from the Presidency. Silence from the Federal Executive Council. Silence from the Inspector-General of Police. Silence from the National Assembly. Not one word. Not one directive. Not one gesture to assure Nigerians that the life of Mary Habila matters to this government.

Instead, the Minister has been permitted to manage the narrative of a death that occurred under his own roof: issuing statements through his personal aides, deploying his private lawyers to correspond with the police, and continuing his official duties as though nothing has happened, while civil society groups, youth organisations, and the family’s own community cry out for an independent inquiry.

Let me be clear: I make no pronouncement on anyone’s guilt or innocence. That is precisely the point. Only a credible, independent, and transparent investigation can establish the truth, and it is the refusal of the Federal Government to guarantee such an investigation that constitutes the scandal before us.

A government’s first duty is the protection of life. Where a life is lost in circumstances touching a high official of state, the burden on government to act transparently is at its heaviest.

President Tinubu’s administration has instead treated this tragedy as an inconvenience to be waited out. If the death of a young Nigerian woman in a Minister’s residence cannot stir this government to act, then Nigerians must ask: whose life, exactly, does this government value?

I therefore demand the following: One, President Bola Tinubu must direct the Honourable Minister of Works to step aside immediately, pending the conclusion of investigations. This is not a punishment; it is the minimum standard of public accountability in any serious democracy. No official under this cloud should preside over a federal ministry as though it were business as usual.

Two, the Inspector-General of Police must immediately transfer the investigation from the Ebonyi State Command to Force Headquarters, with the involvement of independent forensic experts. No investigation conducted in the shadow of the Minister’s home-state influence can command public confidence.

Three, a full, independent, and internationally credible autopsy must be conducted without further delay, with the findings made public. The stalemate over the post-mortem, three weeks after this young woman’s death is an indictment of every institution involved.

Four, the family of Mary Habila must be protected from any pressure, inducement, or intimidation, and must be guaranteed unfettered access to the facts of their daughter’s death.

The measure of a nation is how it responds when the powerful are touched by tragedy and the powerless demand truth. Mary Habila was somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, a young professional with her life ahead of her. She was a Nigerian. Her death must not be reduced to a footnote of political convenience.

Nigeria will work again, but only when the life of every Nigerian counts, and when no one, however highly placed, stands beyond the reach of accountability.

May the soul of Mary Habila rest in peace. May her family find justice. -AA