ADC Chieftain Blasts Uba Sani For Not Countering Hunkuyi’s Call To Keep El-Rufai Jailed Till 2027

An African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Uche Diala, has blasted Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani for failing to counter former Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi after Hunkuyi openly urged him to keep former Governor Nasir El-Rufai in jail until after the 2027 election.

Diala said Hunkuyi was only acknowledging publicly what every well-meaning Nigerian already knew privately — that El-Rufai’s continued incarceration is politically motivated.

In a reaction posted on X, Diala quoted Hunkuyi’s remarks in Zaria verbatim:

“Secondly, Your Excellency, the Governor, Almighty God has restrained the devils and chained them up during the month of Ramadan.

In which month did you capture my elder brother? Please keep him for us. Hold him firmly and do not release him. Keep him securely…Do not release him. Wait until everything is completed. Until you receive your crown [re-election] in your hands, then release him to us.”

Diala questioned Governor Uba Sani’s silence at the event, insisting it amounted to an endorsement of the plot.

“Did Governor Uba Sani counter him? Not to my knowledge. Silence means corroboration, endorsement and acceptance,” Diala wrote.

He said since Hunkuyi decided to bring God into the matter by referencing Ramadan and the chaining of devils, he would also bring God into it.

Diala quoted two scriptures to warn against the political calculation:

“And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'” ~ Luke 12:19-20

“They plan, and Allah plans, and Allah is the best of planners”. ~ Surah Al-Anfal 8:30

The ADC chieftain added that nothing is hidden forever under the sun, describing El-Rufai as their nightmare and insisting that this too shall pass.

Hunkuyi, former Senator representing Kaduna North and current National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) commissioner for North-West, made the remarks on Saturday in Zaria while Governor Uba Sani received former top officials of El-Rufai who defected to the APC.

Among those received were Alhaji Bashir Saidu, El-Rufai’s former Chief of Staff and former Commissioner for Finance, and Jafaru Sani, former Commissioner for Local Government, Education and Environment. The event was attended by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas and former Governor Ramalan Yero.

Hunkuyi, who said he had two minutes to speak, had also mocked El-Rufai’s camp: “They have taken away the children and the grandchildren. Let us ask, who did they leave behind—the short person who went with him? Who was he left with? We need to hear about this robbery.”

El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna from 2015 to 2023 and later defected from APC to ADC, has been in custody of the ICPC since February 2026 over alleged abuse of office and fraudulent contracts. His family and the ADC allege political intimidation ahead of 2027, a claim the authorities deny.