Former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad has appealed to OPay Digital Services Limited to reconsider the arrest of Haifa Abubakar, following a controversial social media post about the fintech company.
Haifa was reportedly arrested after a viral post falsely claimed that OPay was preparing to shut down its operations.
In a post on X on Thursday, Ahmad acknowledged that the publication was wrong but questioned why Haifa was still arrested after she allegedly complied with OPay’s demands to delete the post and apologise.
Ahmad said he believed Haifa had admitted her mistake and taken the corrective steps requested by the company.
“We all know that what Haifa did was wrong and virtually nobody supported her actions,” the former presidential aide said.
He, however, questioned the circumstances surrounding her subsequent arrest.
According to Ahmad, OPay initially asked Haifa to remove the post and issue an apology within a specified period. He said his understanding was that she complied with both requests.
“So, why would OPay still go ahead to have her arrested, particularly if she had complied with the company’s demands?” he asked.
Ahmad said he would have viewed the situation differently if Haifa had refused to delete the post or apologise.
He argued that if she had fulfilled the corrective measures requested by the company, there were legitimate questions about whether her arrest was necessary.
The former presidential aide also raised the possibility that public pressure on social media may have influenced the decision to arrest her.
He appealed directly to OPay to review the case, describing Haifa as a young woman and student who made a mistake but subsequently took responsibility for her actions.
“I therefore want to make a sincere and strong appeal to OPay; please, kindly look into this matter again,” Ahmad said.
He stressed that his intervention was not intended to excuse the original post, but to encourage a review of what happened after Haifa allegedly removed the content and apologised.
The circumstances surrounding the arrest and any further legal action against Haifa were not fully detailed in the material provided
