Denge Josef Onoh, Chairman, Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, has written a letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, appealing for immediate presidential intervention and freedom for the incarcerated former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai.

In the letter, formally routed through the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Onoh details why the nation must prioritize reconciliation over retribution, highlighting El-Rufai’s architectural and foundational role in delivering the 2023 APC Presidential election victory.

The full text of Onoh’s statement and letter is reproduced below:

AN APPEAL FOR COMPASSION AND ROYAL INTERVENTION IN THE PLIGHT OF MALLAM NASIR AHMAD EL-RUFAI

I write to you today through the high office of your Chief of Staff, not merely as a fellow stakeholder in our national project, but with a deep sense of shared history, duty, and human compassion. I am compelled to address Your Excellency regarding the ongoing legal tribulations and incarceration facing the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai. His recent deeply moving and reflective words, shared from a place of profound adversity, reveal a man standing face-to-face with his conscience, leaving Final judgements to Almighty Allah. It is as a witness to this vulnerable human moment that I humbly implore your presidential intervention.

Your Excellency, I do not stand before you to claim that Nasir El-Rufai is the easiest man to navigate as a friend, nor that he is the most pliable associate. He can be rigid, intensely opinionated, and notoriously difficult to align with on ordinary terms. Yet, history has shown us that these very same traits—his Stubborn adherence to a course and his unyielding temperament—have been the engine blocks of his absolute loyalty when he commits to a cause or a friend.

We cannot quickly erase from our memories the immense, foundational role Mallam El-Rufai played in ensuring the victory of the All Progressives Congress and your historic election in 2023, a campaign in which I proudly served as the Southeast Spokesman for your Presidential Campaign Council. At a time when political tides were turbulent, his unwavering voice and structural mobilization stood as a bulwark in defense of your mandate. Beyond partisan politics, his public life has been defined by fierce, uncompromising contributions to the development of our nation—from the radical modernization of the Federal Capital Territory to the transformation of Kaduna State. While his methods have often courted controversy, his driving motivation has always been the progress of Nigeria.

It is disheartening to observe that in this hour of his trial, it seems most of his friends and associates have abandoned him, fearful of being identified with him due to their own personal political interests. On my own part, both as a dedicated party stalwart and as the Chairman of the Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, I refuse to be enslaved by political influence, nor do I seek political rewards in exchange for keeping a convenient silence while a friend is in need. Mallam El-Rufai remains a Friend I deeply respect; I highly appreciate his massive contributions to nation-building, and I absolutely cannot deny him in this, his current moment of adversity. Instead, guided by a right conscience, I choose to advocate for what is right. We must all remember the fragile and transient nature of power; those of us who walk free today can easily become the prisoners of tomorrow. It is this sobering truth that demands we treat one another with fairness and empathy today.

History, Your Excellency, provides us with timeless reminders that true statecraft is solidified not by the destruction of complicated allies, but by the application of wisdom and pardon. In ancient history, Julius Caesar famously pioneered the concept of Clementia—the deliberate policy of granting mercy to his fiercest political adversaries and estranged allies. Caesar understood that while force could conquer, it was executive clemency that built a lasting empire and unified a fractured citizenry.

In our own modern national history, we remember the profound wisdom of President Shehu Shagari in 1982. In an act of unparalleled statesmanship, Shagari bypassed intense political friction to grant a full presidential pardon to the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. That single act of mercy healed a deeply wounded post-civil war nation, integrated a marginalized people back into the national fabric, and cemented Shagari’s legacy as a father of peace. Like Ojukwu then, Mallam El-Rufai today is a deeply influential, polarizing, yet undeniably consequential figure whose continued confinement only serves to widen the fissures within our polity.

As the father of the nation, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) vests in your office supreme powers designed exactly for moments such as this, where statecraft must be balanced with healing. Under Section 175 of the Constitution, Your Excellency possesses the absolute Prerogative of Mercy to grant a pardon, respite, or remit any punishment. Furthermore, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Section 174 grants the constitutional power to enter a nolle prosequi—to discontinue any criminal proceedings instituted by the state before judgment is delivered.

Your Excellency, invoking these powers to release Mallam El-Rufai would not be an act of weakness, but a monumental demonstration of statesmanlike grace and political maturity. Leaving a former ally and a key architect of our current democratic dispensation to languish in confinement risks deepening political fractures at a time when our country desperately needs structural stability and unity. I appeal to your heart as a leader who has known both the pain of persecution and the heights of triumph.

Let it be written in our history books that when a dedicated, albeit difficult, patriot fell on adverse times, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu chose the path of reconciliation over retribution, and compassion over confinement.

Thank you, Your Excellency, for your tireless service to Nigeria and for considering this humble and heartfelt plea. May Almighty Allah continue to guide your steps and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Yours faithfully and respectfully,

Denge.Josef Onoh

Chairman, Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly

Former Southeast Spokesman, APC Presidential Campaign Council

(Daily Trust)