Did El-Rufai and Ganduje Collaborate to Disappear Dadiyata?
By Farooq Kperogi
Now that Abdullahi Ganduje has issued a (tepid) denial of Nasir El-Rufaiโs televised allegation of his complicity in Abubakar โDadiyataโ Idrisโ unexplained disappearance, I have a few thoughts to share.
Dadiyata and I followed each other on Twitter when I was active there, so I have a fair sense of what he tweeted about. El-Rufai correctly described Dadiyata as a Kwankwasiyya devotee. But Dadiyata was openly critical not just of Ganduje but of several APC figures, including Buhari and El-Rufai. Sadly, his Twitter handle has now been disabled, perhaps because of extended inactivity.
When Dadiyata was active on Twitter, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Atiku Abubakar were in the PDP, and Kwankwasoโs supporters were strongly associated with Atikuโs presidential bid.
While Ganduje may indeed have had strong political incentives to view Dadiyata as a threat in view of the intense rivalry between Ganduje and Kwankwaso, El-Rufaiโs suggestion that Dadiyata was not a fierce critic of his does not square with the public record.
From my recollections, Dadiyataโs Twitter commentary frequently targeted El-Rufai, as many people have already pointed out.
It is also difficult to ignore that Bashir El-Rufai, El-Rufaiโs son, had, in a December 2019 tweet, mocked both Dadiyataโs disappearance and the social media campaign for his safe return, saying, โDangerous lies in the public space have consequences.โ
Thatโs no proof that El-Rufai was guilty of disappearing Dadiyata, but given El-Rufaiโs close relationship with his children, Bashir’s tweet is at least circumstantial evidence of El-Rufai’s knowledge of and unease with Dadiyataโs biting commentaries (disguised as โdangerous lies in the public spaceโ) and his interest in making him pay for it (โconsequencesโ).
From my perspective, both El-Rufai and Ganduje have a probable political and emotional investment in squelching and disappearing Dadiyata, and I wonโt be shocked if it later emerges that they collaborated to achieve this and that El-Rufai is squealing now only because he is still smarting from his painful exit from the inner circle of power, is now politically at odds with Ganduje, and thinks there will be no consequence for his disclosure.
I searched credible public records for a list of critics El-Rufai caused to be arrested, detained, prosecuted, or tortured when he was governor. Although many people mention โmore than 20,โ I was able to verify 15.
The U.S. State Departmentโs 2019 Human Rights Report, for example, said nine community elders in Southern Kaduna were detained โby order of Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufaiโ in retaliation for criticizing him.
In 2016, a journalist by the name of Jacob Onjewu Dickson was arrested and charged for reporting that El-Rufai was pelted with stones. In the same year, Dr. John Danfulani, a lecturer, was arrested and prosecuted for his criticism of El-Rufai.
Other critics El-Rufai arrested and harassed are Audu Maikori (music executive, 2017); Luka Binniyat (journalist, 2017); Stephen Kefas (journalist/activist, 2019); and Bello Yabo (Islamic scholar, 2020).
The 15 is not, by any means, a ceiling. It is merely the lowest defensible count from cases I can verify. But I am certain there are more.
As for Ganduje, I have found at least five identifiable people who were arrested, detained, remanded, or taken to court for criticizing him.
They are Muโazu Magaji, former Kano commissioner and critic; Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwamanda, politician and critic; Mubarak Muhammad and Nazifi Isa Muhammad, TikTok satirists; and Jaafar Jaafar, publisher of Daily Nigerian.
While most governors in Nigeria are morbidly intolerant of even the mildest criticism, El-Rufai enjoys notoriety as perhaps the most thin-skinned and intolerant governor since 1999.
Given their records of intolerance to criticism, the best I can surmise is that El-Rufai and Ganduje found common cause in silencing Dadiyata since he was severely critical of both of them.
Now, since El-Rufai appears to have information about Dadiyataโs disappearance, even going so far as to mention an unnamed police officer who reputedly told someone that Dadiyata’s arrest was ordered from Kano, we have, for the first time ever, a solid, potentially helpful investigatory lead.
Law enforcement authorities should, without delay, invite El-Rufai to disclose the identity of the police officer under conditions that allow independent verification. Gandujeโs disclaimer is not enough. He should also be questioned.
The disappearance of a citizen over expressed opinions is too grave to be reduced to political theater or media spectacle. I hope this provides an opportunity for Dadiyata’s family to get closure on this sordid episode.
