Arrest Warrant against El-Rufai Seeks to Intimidate, says Lawyer

LONDON, December 8 - An arrest warrant issued by the Nigerian police against the popular
reformer Nasir El-Rufai has been denounced by his lawyer as "groundless" and
"part of a campaign of intimidation." Robert Amsterdam, an international
lawyer representing El-Rufai, has stated, "invented not for the purpose of
detention, but rather to dissuade the long-awaited return to Nigeria of
el-Rufai."

On Tuesday Dec. 8 the Nigerian media reported that the warrants appear to
be based upon allegations of treasonable activities committed abroad. "It is
a clear example of the kind of ugly tactics which define the government's
political persecution of El-Rufai," said Amsterdam. "We can plainly see by
the timing of this news that the goal of the administration is to prevent
El-Rufai's recently announced return to Nigeria. They are seeking to avoid
what would be a trial of the Nigerian system."

The arrest warrants mark the latest turn in a dramatically escalating
political dispute between the state and country's leading reformers. Last
week a letter was signed by 56 prominent Nigerians, including El-Rufai,
demanded that President Umaru Yar'Adua step down due to his serious illness.
On Dec. 1, Amsterdam published a major 48-page White Paper to denounce the
government's attack against the reformers, and prove El-Rufai's innocence.

Nasir El-Rufai served as Director General of the Bureau of Public
Enterprises from 1999-2003 and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and
a member of the Federal Executive Council, the highest decision-making body
of Nigeria, from 2003-2007. Since coming into power, the Yar'Adua government
has assailed El-Rufai and other reformers with a slew of accusations and
politically motivated charges, while at the same time shutting down various
corruption investigations.

More information about Nasir El-Rufai, including the full version of the
White Paper, is available at www.el-rufai.org.

James T. Kimer, +1-917-355-0717, james.kimer at ksocialmedia.com