Human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has slammed former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, saying nobody is persecuting him.

He said EL-Rufai was rather facing Karma of what he did to people while in power.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ on Friday, Adeyanju called for a thorough investigation of the former governor over corruption allegations.

Ekwutosblog reports that operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, attempted to arrest El-Rufai on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a development which has sparked public debates across the country.

Speaking on Friday during the interview, the legal practitioner said, “Nobody is persecuting El-Rufai. If you want to see what persecution is, go and look at all the victims of El-Rufai during his time as Governor of Kaduna State.

“Professor Chidi Odinkalu was persecuted by El-Rufai. Steven Kefas was also persecuted. The Audu Maikori he tried to make light of the situation was persecuted and jailed by El-Rufai.

“Their only crime was criticising him. El-Rufai demolished the house of Senator Hunkuyi, his opponent in Kaduna State. He should be investigated over corruption allegations.”

“Even as I’m calling for his investigation, I’m still saying his right must be respected. El-Rufai is facing the same Karma that former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami is facing today.

“When these people were in power, they behaved like gods. They did not follow due process. Teachers and civil servants in Kaduna went to court, got an order restraining El-Rufai from sacking them, but he went ahead and sacked them nonetheless,” he added.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has designated “money bouquets” as a form of naira abuse, placing them alongside offences such as spraying, squeezing, selling, and defacing banknotes.

Money bouquet is when money is folded to look like a flower petal and then arranged together to create a bouquet.

The CBN made this known in a flier shared on its Twitter handle that listed forms of abusing the naira.

The apex bank captioned the post, “It is your civic duty to protect the naira. Report naira abuse today.”

Under the CBN Act, anyone caught tampering with the naira faces a minimum of six months in prison or a fine of at least ₦50,000.

Nigerians have been urged to protect the naira and report violations as enforcement agencies step up actions against offenders nationwide.

The CBN also provided toll-free hot-lines through which the apex bank could be reached to report such activities.

This comes just days before the celebration of Valentine’s Day, which sees many display their love by gifting their loved ones money bouquets and other items.

Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has sparked controversy after claiming that the UK has been “colonized by immigrants” and suggesting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer may be “too nice” for the scale of the challenges facing the country.

The INEOS founder made the remarks during an interview with Sky News, where he argued that the UK economy cannot sustain high levels of immigration alongside what he described as significant numbers of people on benefits.

“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” he said. “I mean, the UK has been colonised. It’s costing too much money.

“The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people.”

However, data from the Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was approximately 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. The population was around 58.9 million in 2000.

Ratcliffe added that the prime minister must be willing to take difficult and potentially unpopular decisions to address economic and social pressures.

“I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out,” he said, while describing Starmer as having positive attributes but facing a “tough job.”

He also referred to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as an “intelligent” man “with good intentions,” although he suggested that Starmer shared similar qualities.

Ratcliffe, who was a vocal supporter of Brexit, has previously criticised successive Conservative governments over immigration policy, arguing they failed to reduce net migration after the UK left the European Union. In the latest interview, he said Brexit “didn’t turn out how people anticipated,” noting that the 2016 referendum campaign “was largely about immigration.”

His comments come amid renewed focus on migration figures. Government data shows tens of thousands of migrants have arrived in the UK in recent months, including crossings by small boats across the Channel. January figures were lower than in previous years, a drop widely attributed to severe winter weather conditions.

Ratcliffe also criticized broader economic management, saying the country needs to become “sharper on the business front” and focus on competitive energy costs to drive growth.