Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has said the detention of former Code of Conduct Tribunal Chairman Danladi Umar, former Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai demonstrates how quickly political fortunes can change.
In a post on X on Thursday, Odinkalu said few Nigerians would have believed at the beginning of 2023 that the three former public officials would all be in what he described as "judicially sanctioned administrative detention."
"If you told anyone at the beginning of 2023 that Danladi Umar, Abubakar Malami and Nasir El-Rufai would all be in judicially sanctioned administrative detention in Nigeria, the person could have pronounced you mad," he wrote.
Odinkalu said the situation illustrates the risks of endorsing injustice against political opponents, warning that such actions can create precedents that later affect those who once supported them.
He added that the development is a reminder that political power is temporary and cautioned that those who abuse it today may eventually face the consequences of the systems they helped sustain.
