Asiya El Rufai, wife of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El Rufai, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to ensure her husband is granted his constitutional rights as he faces trial, stressing that the family is not asking for the case against him to be stopped.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Asiya said the family’s request is simply for El Rufai to be treated fairly under the law. According to her, that includes access to medical care, legal representation, family visits and bail where the charges permit it.
Her comments come amid the controversy surrounding El Rufai’s prosecution over allegations that he unlawfully intercepted the telephone communications of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu. Concerns have also been raised over his health and the recent arrest of his personal physician.
Asiya maintained that the charges against her husband are bailable under Nigerian law, but said the conditions attached to the bail approvals he has received have made it nearly impossible for him to regain his freedom.
She explained that he was denied bail at the High Court, while the Federal High Court granted him bail under terms she described as unrealistic. According to her, Justice Ekwo in Kaduna ordered that El Rufai provide two sureties of N200 million each, backed by property of the same value in GRA Kaduna, and also required an attestation from the Kaduna State Traditional Council.
She said the family’s efforts to meet those conditions had stalled because the Traditional Council refused to provide the required attestation. On that basis, she appealed to the President to allow the legal process to run its course without interference and to ensure that the courts are allowed to determine the matter fairly.
Asiya questioned why her husband was being treated as a flight risk, pointing out that he had previously complied with court proceedings after being granted bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an earlier matter.
She recalled that after leaving office as minister, the EFCC granted him bail on self recognition and he appeared in court throughout the trial until he was eventually cleared. She said that record made it difficult for the family to understand the continued resistance to his bail applications.
While she stopped short of directly accusing the judiciary of bias, Asiya suggested that politics may be playing a role in the opposition to her husband’s release. She said the agencies prosecuting him are the same ones challenging his bail applications and presenting him as a potential flight risk.
She also spoke about El Rufai’s health, revealing that while authorities had allowed him to visit eye clinics for glaucoma treatment, they had denied him access to his longtime personal doctor, Professor Bello. According to her, the doctor has now been arrested, despite having treated El Rufai for years.
Asiya dismissed claims that her husband used a recent hospital visit to hold political meetings, insisting that the outing was solely for medical care and carried out under a court order granting him access to treatment.
She argued that the order was clear in allowing him unrestricted access to healthcare, but accused the ICPC of interpreting it too narrowly. She said the family had requested an evening appointment to avoid crowds, but authorities instead rescheduled the visit to a busier morning period.
According to her, El Rufai was simply seated in the reception area where members of the public approached him because of his status as a prominent figure. She questioned why he should be blamed if people greeted him or if individuals the authorities did not want him to see happened to be present.
Asiya further condemned the arrest of Professor Bello, warning that criminalising medical professionals for carrying out their duties could have wider consequences beyond her husband’s case.
She said the situation points to what she described as the weaponisation of healthcare, arguing that if doctors begin to fear offering independent medical opinions, it could discourage professionals from doing their jobs freely. In her view, the issue has grown beyond Nasir El Rufai alone and now raises broader concerns about whether professionals are being silenced.
