Former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the police order halting a planned meeting of the African Democratic Congress leaders in the state, insisting that the action violated constitutional provisions.

El-Rufai, who told journalists during a press conference at his Kaduna residence, said the meeting was meant for the ADC North-West leadership to commiserate with members over last Saturday’s incident in the state where thugs attacked members of the party.

“The plan was that the ADC leadership in the North-West are in Kaduna to commiserate with us over the incident of Saturday. And we were going to have that visit in our office. The police commissioner wrote to say that we can’t hold it in the state,” he explained.

The former governor accused the police of overreaching their powers, claiming that the state Commissioner of Police claimed to have obtained a court injunction stopping the meeting without properly serving it on the affected persons.

“He knows what he’s writing violates the Constitution. This morning, he invited the national vice chairman, North-West, and waved a piece of paper claiming they had obtained a court order stopping us from having that meeting.

“We have not seen the court order. It has not been properly served on us. Even if there is a court order, there is a legal process to serve an affected person, and it has not been served on us,” he said.

El-Rufai, however, noted that the party leaders chose to respect the police commissioner’s position despite the alleged irregularities surrounding the injunction.

“As responsible leaders, we had the choice of going there to have our meeting. Nobody can stop us; we are within our constitutional rights. But we decided that even though we have not seen the order, we believe the commissioner of police. Because we don’t believe the commissioner of police could be lying,” he stated.

He added that the decision to hold the briefing at his private residence was to avoid confrontation with security agencies, noting that he had not lived in the house for 15 years as it was under renovation.

“As responsible leaders of our community, we felt that if a law enforcement officer tells us he has an injunction, we will abide by it. But we are still waiting to be served.

“We want to see that injunction, we want to see the grounds, and of course, we will challenge whatever grounds to the Supreme Court,” he declared.

El-Rufai warned that the matter would not be swept under the carpet, hinting at possible legal battles ahead.

“This is not the end of it. Other things will follow after this,” El-Rufai said.

Efforts to reach the Kaduna Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP MANSIR Hassan proved abortive as calls and messages were unanswered.

The WHISTLER reports that penultimate Saturday, violence broke out at the official inauguration of a transition committee set up by opposition parties in the state.

Suspected thugs armed with cutlasses, clubs and stones stormed the venue, attacking participants and vandalising vehicles.

Despite the mayhem, the event continued in a tense atmosphere, with policemen at the scene accused of failing to act.

El-Rufai, who was present, condemned the attack, describing it as a “dangerous descent into lawlessness.”