The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, of arresting and detaining him in Anambra state when he was the governor of the state in 2013.
El-Rufai levelled the accusation at an interactive session of the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna on Monday.
The interactive session was for presidential candidates for the 2023 elections.
The Kaduna State Governor said Obi arrested and detained him for 48 hours.
According to El-Rufai, the incident occurred while Obi was seeking a second term in office on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, adding that he was in Anambra State to monitor the state’s governorship bye-election, in which now Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, was the candidate of his party, All Progressives Congress, at the time
He said: “In 2013, I went to Anambra State as an official of the APC to witness the bye-election for governorship.
“Your next guest, Peter Obi, as governor, got me arrested and detained for 48 hours in my hotel room.
“Now I’m the Governor of Kaduna State and he’s coming to Kaduna.
“In addition to the police and the State Secret Service, I have 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army here if I need to arrest and detain anyone.
“But we are northerners, we are civilised.
“We don’t do things like that.
“I wish you all safe journey back to your destinations.”
Obi, however, defended his position at the time.
He said El-Rufai was being overzealous by accusing him of bigotry, given the circumstances that led to his arrest.
He said: “What His Excellency, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, said about me has been brought to my attention.
“I believe that as we grow older and are saddled with more responsibilities, we are expected to become circumspect in our thinking and avoid recklessness in our speeches and utterances.
“How does the circumstance he referred to relate to bigotry to warrant such a label?
“All I do for people like El-Rufai is to pray for them and encourage them to concentrate on doing those things that will better the lots of Nigerians rather than engage in hate speeches that will divide and destroy the country.”