Human rights lawyer Mike Ozekhome has advocated for Governor El-Rufai to receive a fair opportunity to present his case amidst the probe into his administration.
Although a committee within the Kaduna House of Assembly conducted an investigation into the former governor’s tenure, citing corruption allegations and issuing recommendations, Ozekhome emphasized the importance of affording El-Rufai the chance to refute the accusations and defend himself in accordance with due process.
He said, “I’m not a Nostradamus, the man who saw tomorrow, nor am I the oracle at Ile Ife [in Osun State] that will go gaze into the future to pronounce it the next Ooni need to be. So, I wouldn’t be able to know what the outcome would be.”
Ozekhome, who spoke on Thursday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, continued, “But I think that whatever happens, El-Rufai must be given his right to a fair hearing. The assembly has just merely made a recommendation and told the governor to implement it.
“The governor may look at it and, and feel well, ‘This is not worth the energy at the time. Let’s face other [things]’. Others may say, ‘N423 billion they are accusing him of is not a small amount; let’s dig in.’ So, whatever the outcome would be, don’t forget that El-Rufai also has its own fundamental rights to protect. For example, he may decide to go to court to challenge the indictment itself.”
Noting that it was not appropriate to indict anyone by proxy, he said, “Maybe you could say he was not given a fair trial. He was never called. I don’t know whether he was called to come and defend himself.
“Was he duly invited? Was he given an opportunity to defend himself? If he was and he chose to stay back, that’s another ball game. So, because I do not have all those duties, it becomes peremptory for me to [comment on it]
“You don’t indict a person by proxy. No, you don’t, particularly in a matter that has criminal connotations. You can’t do that by proxy. So, it has to be the person.”