A member of the opposition African Democratic Congress, Kenneth Okonkwo, has suggested that Umma El-Rufai, the aged mother of ex-Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, died from trauma as a result of her son’s arrest and detention over alleged money-laundering and other criminal offences.

Mr Okonkwo is a former Labour Party member who defected to the ADC.

“As far as I’m concerned, it is the incarceration of El-Rufai that killed his mother. You know when mothers get to that age, they are so sentimental they become so emotional,” Mr Okonkwo said in a video posted by Symfoni News.

He suggested that those who informed her of her son’s arrest might have misrepresented the situation, possibly telling her he had died in custody, causing a shock that could have triggered a fatal health crisis.

“An aged woman of 90 something years that you are telling that they are arresting the son (sic). Some might even go and say the son has died.,” the former Nollywood actor said.

“That is what killed her, in my own opinion,” he said emphatically.

The interviewer interjected and suggested that the mother could have drawn her own conclusions and assumed the worst about the arrest. Mr Okonkwo agreed that it was a valid possibility. 

Mr Okonkwo alleged the ruling All Progressives Congress was “using the judiciary” at will, noting that Mr El-Rufai who could not be released initially without a court order, was eventually released on March 27 to pay his last respect and bury his mum without a court order.

He said the absence of a court order to facilitate Mr El-Rufai’s release indicated that the judiciary had pandered to the whims and caprices of the ruling party.

Mr El-Rufai, who is facing 10 counts of corruption including money-laundering, was arraigned at the Kaduna Division of the Federal High Court in March.