JOS — Former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung, has launched a blistering attack on the presidency, accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of executing a calculated, vindictive campaign to politically neutralize and incarcerate the former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.
Dalung made the explosive remarks while addressing the unfolding political realignments and internal friction within the ruling class. He asserted that El-Rufai was the primary architect of Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election, making his current legal and political persecution a classic case of administrative betrayal.
According to Dalung, the administration’s strategy is not to necessarily secure a swift conviction, but to deliberately trap the former Kaduna governor in a revolving door of judicial harassment—alternating him from one court to another with impossible bail conditions—to keep him completely out of circulation until after the 2027 general elections.
“El-Rufai Created Tinubu’s Presidency”
Dalung argued that without El-Rufai’s aggressive mobilization, structural leverage across the North, and intellectual defense on the global stage, the current presidency would have been an absolute impossibility. He reminded the public of El-Rufai’s omnipresence during the grueling 2023 campaign cycles.
“El-Rufai created Tinubu,” Dalung stated bluntly. “Remove El-Rufai, Tinubu would not have won in 2023. He was everywhere. He was even his campaign director. He was in Chatham House speaking for him.”
The former minister pointed out that because the presidency is fully aware of El-Rufai’s immense tactical capacity, organizational intellect, and potential to anchor a formidable northern opposition bloc ahead of 2027, the kitchen cabinet has resolved to use state security apparatuses and the judiciary to keep him permanently tied down.
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| THE REVOLVING COURTROOM CONTAINMENT STRATEGY |
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| EL-RUFAI’S 2023 STRATEGIC VALUE | TINUBU’S ALLEGED LEVERAGE REACTION |
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| Anchored the core Northern APC | Systematically targeted with state |
| Governors’ rebellion for Tinubu. | petitions and judicial probes. |
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| Functioned as a key campaign lead | Engineered a cycle of rotating court|
| and international spokesperson. | appearances and continuous arrests. |
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| Possesses the regional network to | Weaponizing legal bail mechanisms |
| alter the 2027 electoral map. | to enforce political isolation. |
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The Legal Gymnastics of Continuous Bail Applications
A central pillar of Dalung’s exposure focused on the alleged manipulation of the judicial process to execute an administrative cage. He noted that the administration’s legal handlers have perfected a template where an individual is granted bail in one court, only to be immediately re-arrested on a separate, fresh charge in another jurisdiction.
“Tinubu knew the capacity of El-Rufai very well, and the best they can do is to have him incarcerated, alternating him from one court to the other,” Dalung explained. “They’ll keep doing this and granting bail. Before we know it, we’ll have 10 or 15 bail applications granted, none of the conditions can be met until after 2027.”
The legal scholar argued that by piling up a ridiculous chain of stringent, unfulfillable bail conditions across multiple courts, the state effectively achieves long-term political detention without the global backlash associated with outright military-style decrees.
The public indictment comes as several northern socio-cultural groups step up pressure on the presidency to halt the systematic targeting of regional leaders. As of the conclusion of this report, neither the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Strategy nor the Federal Ministry of Justice has issued an official response to address Dalung’s severe allegations.
