Nigeria, Sept. 21 -- There is a deep political irony in what is happening today in Nigeria. Nasir El-Rufai, former two-term governor of Kaduna State, former minister of the Federal Capital Territory and one of the major figures in the formation and rise of the All Progressives Congress, now finds himself detained and facing prosecution under the same political administration he worked hard to help bring to power.

Whatever anyone thinks about El-Rufai and his record in public office, his role in the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president in 2023 cannot simply be ignored.

El-Rufai was one of the influential northern political figures who supported the argument that power should move back to southern Nigeria after eight years of Muham...