Buhari’s Ex-Aide Reacts As Opay Arrest Lady Behind Shutdown Report

A former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has appealed to fintech company OPay Digital Services Limited to reconsider the continued detention of a student, Haifa Abubakar, who was arrested over a false social media post claiming the company was shutting down operations.

Ahmad made the appeal in a post on 𝕏 on Thursday, saying the student had admitted her mistake and, based on his understanding of events, complied with the company’s demand to remove the post and apologise.

He argued that while Haifa’s action was wrong, the circumstances surrounding her arrest raised questions, especially after she allegedly corrected the post and apologised.

Ahmad said he did not support publishing the false claim but questioned why the matter escalated after the student reportedly complied with OPay’s request.

“We all know that what Haifa did was wrong and virtually nobody supported her actions. However, I have questions about what happened afterwards,” he said.

According to him, OPay had initially requested that Haifa delete the post and apologise within a specified period.

“My understanding is that she did exactly what she was asked to do; she removed the post and apologised,” Ahmad added.

He questioned the decision to proceed with her arrest despite the alleged compliance.

“So, why would OPay still go ahead to have her arrested, particularly if she had complied with the company’s demands?” he asked.

The former presidential aide said the situation would have been different if Haifa had ignored the company’s request or refused to correct the information.

“But if she did exactly what OPay requested, then I believe there are legitimate questions about why her arrest was still necessary,” he stated.

Ahmad appealed to the fintech firm to review its position, describing Haifa as a young student who made a mistake and took steps to address it.

“I therefore want to make a sincere and strong appeal to OPay; please, kindly look into this matter again. Haifa is a young woman and a student. She made a mistake, was called out for it, and, from what we all saw, complied with the corrective steps OPay itself requested,” he said.

He added that keeping her in custody could have unnecessary consequences.

“If that is indeed the case, I believe keeping her in custody serves little useful purpose,” Ahmad said.

Ahmad added that condemning Haifa’s actions should not translate into condemning her personally, arguing that people who acknowledge their mistakes should be given room to correct them.

“We can condemn what Haifa did without condemning her as a person. We can hold people accountable for their mistakes while still showing compassion, especially when they have acknowledged the wrongdoing and complied with the remedy requested of them,” he said.

He urged OPay to release the student and allow the incident to serve as a lesson rather than negatively affect her future.

“OPay, please reconsider this matter. We appeal to you to have Haifa released and allow this incident to end with a lesson learned rather than a young student’s life being unnecessarily derailed,” he added.