The Karma Of Power: Why El- Rufa, Malami Deserve No Tears — Farooq Kperogi

-- Renowned columnist and academic, Professor Farooq Kperogi, has argued that the current legal and political travails of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and former Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, are not merely products of “selective justice” but a direct harvest of the karma they sowed while in power.
Writing in his blog, Notes from Atlanta, on Saturday, Kperogi addressed the growing narrative among some sections of the political elite who have begun to paint the duo as victims of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. While acknowledging that the current government’s anti-corruption drive appears selectively targeted at those who have fallen out of favor, Kperogi maintains that El-Rufai and Malami are “top dogs” who have simply lost their bite.
Kperogi highlights El-Rufai’s long-standing reputation for ruthlessness, dating back to his tenure as FCT Minister, where he earned the moniker “Mai Rusau” (The Demolisher).
“Nearly one million residents were evicted from their homes in Abuja between 2003 and 2007… El-Rufai said he had ‘no apology’ for the demolitions,” Kperogi noted, citing historical reports.
The Professor argued that this “power first, compassion be damned” philosophy only intensified during El-Rufai’s years in Kaduna, where he allegedly hounded political opponents with a “viciousness” that left no room for the very empathy his defenders now seek for him.
Turning his gaze to the former Chief Law Officer, Abubakar Malami, Kperogi reminded Nigerians of how the rule of law was frequently sacrificed on the altar of “public interest” during Malami’s tenure.
He cited several high-profile instances where court orders were ignored under Malami’s watch.
In a “delightful twist of fate,” Kperogi pointed out that Malami recently reached out to Sowore—a man he once helped keep behind bars—to facilitate his own legal interests.

A harvest of their own making

The core of Kperogi’s argument rests on the principle of Karmic Justice. He asserts that while it is true that Tinubu’s administration may be shielding its own loyalists from prosecution, the suffering of El-Rufai and Malami is a “moral and political ecology” they helped create.
“They are now learning, from the wrong end of the stick, what they normalized, defended, and inflicted on others,” Kperogi wrote. He argued that their tragedy isn’t that they are being treated unfairly by Nigerian standards, but that they are being treated with the “utterly familiar cruelty” they once dispensed.
While the Professor agrees that every citizen deserves due process, he strictly rejects the “canonization” of the duo as martyrs.
“The most morally poignant part is the selective memory of their defenders, who want Nigerians to look at today’s suffering and forget yesterday’s abuses,” he stated.
Kperogi concluded by affirming that his “default ideological temperament” is to fight for the underdog, but El-Rufai and Malami do not qualify. Until they prove to be “born-again democrats,” their current misfortune remains a blend of political displacement and well-earned karma.
“I will reserve my tears for worthier people,” he concluded.