**An high-profile former Nigerian minister has gone to court to challenge the international arrest warrants issued last week on corruption charges.**As a close ally of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Abuja Minister Nasir el-Rufai used to be one of Nigeria’s most powerful people.
His lawyer has described the arrest warrant as part of a “witch-hunt”.
Mr el-Rufai is currently in the US but has promised to return to Nigeria before the end of the year.
He is wanted over the alleged disappearance of millions of dollars of government funds.
NASIR EL-RUFAI
- Key ally of ex-President Obasanjo
- After 1999 oversaw privatisation of government-owned firms
- Nicknamed “Mr Demolition” after ordering illegal Abuja buildings to be bulldozed in 2003
- Cancelled Abuja title deeds since 1976 because of land scams
- After leaving office, accused of misappropriating $246m (£167m)
He denies any wrong-doing and his lawyer says the charges are politically motivated.
Last week, his lawyer Robert Amsterdam suggested that the warrant had only been issued because President Umaru Yar’Adua is sick in hospital in Saudi Arabia.
Mr el-Rufai was one of more than 50 prominent Nigerians who signed a letter calling on President Yar’Adua to step down because of his health problems.
An arrest warrant for the former head of Nigeria’s EFCC anti-corruption agency, Nuhu Ribadu, was issued at the same time.
“The point of the arrest warrants is not to arrest these men but to deter them from returning to Nigeria,” Mr Amsterdam told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme.
“They fear the truth and the truth of the matter is as the world knows Mr el-Rufai and Mr Ribadu led the fight against corruption in Nigeria.”