Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has said that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, made a “greatest mistake” by surrendering himself to security agencies ahead of his trial.

Dalung made the remarks during an interview with Trust TV published on YouTube on Tuesday, where he alleged that the government initially attempted to arrest El-Rufai at the airport but failed.

“The government is so scared of El-Rufai, that was why they thought he was going to act and they need to take him into custody. They attempted at the airport and it failed and then they realized that trying to arrest him may instigate insurrection,” he said.

He added that the former governor’s decision to submit himself to authorities was a misstep.

“El-Rufai himself decided to downplay and surrender himself and that’s the greatest mistake he made as a comrade,” Dalung stated.

When asked what El-Rufai should have done, the former minister said: “Comrades don’t surrender. During a struggle, if you surrender yourself, you’re going to be humiliated. It’s an established principle in struggle. When they suffer to get you they become very careful.”

However, Dalung appeared to strike a nuanced tone when further pressed, saying El-Rufai’s action may have also denied authorities the opportunity to build a case against him.

“What he did was he behaved maturely and responsibly and they played into his trap because surrendering himself earlier denied them the opportunity to be able to frame up charges and charge him,” he said.

“So, they got him into custody but they didn’t have charges and they have no even offences on the ground. So, they started shopping for offences. El-Rufai’s trial will not result into anything because its foundation is built on illegality and not law,” Dalung added.

El-Rufai was re-arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on February 18 shortly after being released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had detained him for two days over corruption allegations.

On Tuesday, the former governor was arraigned over allegations bordering on inflated severance payments and years-long dollar-denominated deposits in his bank accounts. (Vanguard)