A former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused ex-Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, of responsible for the abduction and presumed murder of Abubakar Idris otherwise called Dadiyata.

Dadiyata, a social media critic of the then government of Mr El-Rufai, went missing in August 2019.

Speaking during an Arise TV programme on Friday, Mr El-Rufai rebuffed allegations of having a hand in Mr Dadiyata’s abduction and presumed murder, saying the allegations should be directed at Mr Ganduje based on a purported confession of a cop that Mr Ganduje ordered Dadiyata’s abduction. 

“Three years after Dadiyata was abducted, a policeman that was posted out of Kano State to Ekiti State confessed to someone that they were sent from Kano that they took the guy, they abducted Dadiyata and he felt bad about it,” Mr El-Rufai said on Arise TV.

Mr El-Rufai denied any involvement in Mr Dadiyata’s disappearance, saying the activist’s social media timeline was filled with anti-Ganduje comments which had nothing to do with Kaduna State.

“If anybody is to be asked questions about the disappearance of Dadiyata, it’s the Kano State government. It has nothing to do with the Kaduna State government. It has nothing to do with the Kaduna State government, ” he stated. 

Mr Dadiyata, 34, according to Mr El-Rufai was an indigene of Kano State, living in Kaduna State at the time but worked in Katsina State as a lecturer. Dadiyata was a staunch supporter of Mr Ganduje’s estranged political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso. 

Contacted for comment on Mr El-Rufai’s claims, Force spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the police were investigating his “assertion” to determine the facts of the case.

He stated that it was too early to comment on the matter. 

“We also took note of that assertion and we are doing our findings,” Mr Hundeyin told Peoples Gazette on Saturday.

“It has not been up to 24 hours since he (Mr El-Rufai) made that assertion. We don’t work with hearsay, rumours. We work with facts and facts can only emerge from investigation,” he told The Gazette. 

Mr Hundeyin said the police would inform Nigerians of their findings after concluding investigations.


Mr Ganduje did not respond to a request for comment on Mr El-Rufai’s accusations. 

Mr Dadiyata was abducted in August 2019 by suspected gunmen and nothing was heard of him since his abduction. But another social media commentator, Damilola Adekunle, who pledged  N10 million reward for useful information on Mr Dadiyata’s whereabouts, announced his death in 2025.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that after thorough investigations, I can confirm that Idris Abubakar, popularly known as Dadiyata, is officially dead. #Dadiyata was killed,” she wrote on Facebook on June 10, 2025.