Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, submitted a petition against the state’s Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Rabiu, over what he described as “unprofessional conduct, abuse of office, and serial violations”.
The petition was a fresh twist in the face-off between the leadership of the African Democratic Congress in Kaduna State and the state’s police command.
The Kaduna police had sealed the Kaduna ADC secretariat last Thursday and subsequently invited El-Rufai and other ADC leaders for questioning for alleged “conspiracy, incitement, mischief, and disturbance of public peace in the state”.
The Kaduna ADC had suffered attacks by political thugs, with the ADC accusing the police of backing the thugs.
Instead of honouring the police invitation, El-Rufai, according to a statement on Monday by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, dragged the police commissioner before the Police Service Commissioner.
El-Rufai, in the petition, alleged that the Commissioner of Police and some officers of the Kaduna Police Command had engaged in acts “unbecoming of their calling” since assuming office on December 30, 2024.
The former governor said he was compelled to alert the PSC after an earlier petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, failed to curb what he called the “egregiously unlawful” conduct of the officers.
“I am writing out of concern that the Nigeria Police, warts and all, is the only frontline law enforcement institution we have,” El-Rufai stated in a statement signed by his media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, in Kaduna on Monday.
“The duty of all citizens is not only to support it at every level but also to ensure that the commission is provided opportunities to deliver on its regulatory powers to enforce discipline and promote sound and ethical conduct by all police officers at all times,” he added.
