Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has criticised the decision of ex-Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to submit himself to security agencies, describing it as a costly miscalculation.

Speaking during an interview on Trust TV, Dalung claimed that authorities had initially attempted to arrest El-Rufai at the airport but backed off, fearing the move could trigger unrest. “The government is so scared of El-Rufai… they attempted at the airport and it failed,” he said.

He argued that the former governor’s eventual decision to turn himself in played directly into the hands of those pursuing him. “El-Rufai himself decided to downplay and surrender himself and that’s the greatest mistake he made as a comrade,” Dalung stated.

Drawing from what he described as principles of political struggle, Dalung insisted that surrender often weakens a figure’s leverage. “Comrades don’t surrender. During a struggle, if you surrender yourself, you’re going to be humiliated,” he added.

However, he struck a somewhat measured tone when pressed further, suggesting the move may have also disrupted any attempt to build a solid case. According to him, the early surrender denied authorities the time to properly assemble charges.

“They got him into custody but they didn’t have charges… they started shopping for offences,” Dalung said, maintaining that the case against El-Rufai “is built on illegality and not law.”

El-Rufai had earlier been re-arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission shortly after his release from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and was subsequently arraigned over allegations including inflated severance payments and dollar-denominated deposits running into hundreds of thousands.