Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Selcap Dalung, has raised concerns over the legal handling of the case involving former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, particularly regarding his detention and the actions of security agencies.
Dalung made these remarks during an interview from 12:25 on Trust TV News on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, while responding to questions about the denial of bail and the legal arguments presented by both the defence and prosecuting authorities.
The interviewer noted that many Nigerians had expected El-Rufai to be granted bail after spending over 30 days in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission. It was also stated that the commission’s legal representative argued that the alleged offences were severe enough that granting bail could pose risks to the polity.
Reacting, Dalung explained the framework of Nigeria’s legal system, stating, “You know, we practice what we call adversarial tradition of law, meaning that it is more or less like a contest, a war situation, where you have two parties struggling to present their case before an arbiter.”
He further outlined the expected legal procedure, saying, “Now, under our laws, a person is arrested and tried and prosecuted based on the laws. In the case, our laws provide that a person who is accused of an offense will be investigated, invited, investigated, and then tried if the investigation pointed positively to the commission of an offense.”
Addressing the specific case, Dalung alleged irregularities in the process. He said, “In the case of El-Rufai, we have what we call legal gymnastics. El-Rufai was arrested before ICPC went shopping for the offense he committed.”
He continued, “And there is no way under our laws that you will arrest somebody, keep him in custody before you will go looking for the offense, you will go instigating people, you will go picking objects and naming them as the object used for typing or phone. You will file a charge even before investigation.”
Dalung also referenced the role of the Department of State Services, stating, “The Department of State Security filed a charge against El-Rufai even before inviting him. But these are serious, this never happened even under the military.”
When the interviewer suggested that the agency’s actions could be justified since a case had already been filed in court, Dalung rejected the notion. He stated, “No, don’t try to massage evil.”
He added, “I am so disappointed. You see, we have one of the best director generals in the history of our state security. One of the best. A very brilliant, intelligent and professional young man, officer. But for this to happen under him, I was embarrassed.”
Concluding his remarks, Dalung criticized the sequence of actions taken by the agency, stating, “That the DSS will go to court to file a charge before even arresting somebody and investigating him.” Read_More…