Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, a former commissioner under the administration of ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai, was arrested by security agents in Kaduna on Thursday.
He was reportedly arrested by officers from Operation Fushin KADA around 10:45 am, shortly after leaving his residence in the Kaduna metropolis.
Sources close to Sani told Daily Trust that after his arrest, he was taken to a court on Daura Road, Kaduna, before being remanded in a correctional facility.
Sani was one of six former commissioners who recently left the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), following in the footsteps of their principal, El-Rufai, who also resigned from the party.
The Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, could not be reached for comment on the incident.
El-Rufai attributed Sani’s arrest to political decisions, including his resignation from APC and subsequent defection to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
El-Rufai, in a statement, claimed that Sani was taken away in broad daylight by persons falsely presenting themselves as police officers.
He said the incident mirrors a previous case involving another of his former officials, Bashir Saidu, who was allegedly detained for 50 days before being granted bail.
According to El-Rufai, Jafaru Sani was later remanded in prison custody by a magistrate without any formal charges or a First Information Report (FIR) from the police or the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice.
The former governor further revealed that Jafaru is now facing money laundering charges – an offence he argued is beyond the jurisdiction of the state judiciary and police.