Atiku Could Get 1 Million Kaduna Votes With El-Rufai Support, ADC Aide Says

(Atiku Abubakar. Photo Credit: TheCable)

The Senior Political Assistant to ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, Demola Olarewaju, said on Thursday that the former vice president can win one million votes from Kaduna State with the influence of ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai.

He said Kaduna has always been Atiku's highest voting state, in victory and in defeat.

Olarewaju said this online, adding that the APC may not play fair and has already shown its dictatorial hand early enough.

His comments come as El-Rufai remains in detention on the orders of the Abuja Federal High Court.

He was arrested on February 18, 2026 by security operatives when he arrived from Egypt.

The ICPC picked him up after investigations into fraud during his time as governor.

Between March and April 2026, he was arraigned in several courts.

On March 24, the ICPC charged him with money laundering on 10 counts.

On April 1, he faced a charge from the DSS over an alleged interception.

In mid-April, the ICPC brought more charges over rail and CCTV contracts, and on April 23 he was formally arraigned by the DSS in Abuja over alleged communication interception.

In May, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik granted him bail of N100 million with one surety in the DSS case, which is about an alleged national security breach and unauthorised access to a phone call of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.

In June, the judge refused to change the strict bail terms in the wiretapping case.