- Kenneth Okonkwo accused President Bola Tinubu of allegedly targeting Nasir El-Rufai due to his ADC affiliation
- He said El-Rufai’s extended detention violated the 48-hour legal limit without bail
- Okonkwo argued the case should proceed through the courts, emphasising the prosecution’s burden of proof.
A Nollywood actor-turned politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of allegedly targeting former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai following his reported association with the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Okonkwo made the claim on Friday while speaking during The Morning Brief, a current affairs programme on Channels Television.
The former spokesman for the Labour Party presidential campaign council expressed concern over the alleged detention of El-Rufai, arguing that the Federal Government does not have the legal authority to detain any individual beyond 48 hours without granting bail.
According to him, the treatment of the former Kaduna governor could be politically motivated due to his alignment with the ADC, an opposition party.
“We believe that El-Rufai is being maltreated and persecuted because he had joined the ADC. We are not exculpating anybody, but it is the court of law that should decide, not President Tinubu,” Okonkwo said during the programme.
He further alleged that the administration was using anti-corruption mechanisms as a political tool against opposition figures.
“And for now, he is using his authority as the Commander-in-Chief to use the instrumentality of the ‘anti-corruption’ against the opposition. I wonder whether there is any commission fighting corruption in Tinubu’s regime,” he added.
Okonkwo argued that the immediate step the government should take is to release El-Rufai while allowing the legal process to proceed through the courts.
“The first thing President Bola Tinubu should do is to release El-Rufai. We are not saying he should not face trial, but his fundamental human rights should be guaranteed,” he said.
The actor-politician emphasised that Nigerian law limits the period authorities can detain a suspect without bail to 48 hours, insisting that extended detention under the guise of investigation violates constitutional rights.
“Forty-eight hours is what a government has to keep anybody in detention without granting him bail. No, you don’t have that power,” he stated.
He also argued that, according to judicial precedent, arrests should typically follow the conclusion of investigations rather than precede them.
“The whole idea of arrest is that you have concluded your investigation and you have found the person culpable for any crime you are alleging he committed,” Okonkwo said.
He added that accusations alone should not justify an arrest, noting that in criminal proceedings the burden of proof lies with the prosecution.
“That somebody said anything does not give you the right to go and arrest somebody, because in criminal proceedings it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the suspect, not the suspect to defend his innocence,” he added.