Baba-Ahmed Seeks Probe Of El-Rufai Over Bandit Allegation Against FG

Labour Party vice presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has called for former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to be questioned over his allegation that the Federal Government and Kaduna State were paying bandits monthly allowances.

Speaking on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Baba-Ahmed faulted the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for dismissing El-Rufai’s explosive claims without investigation.

“If the so-called office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) would take this statement with levity, then Nuhu Ribadu was never a policeman; he is not a qualified lawyer; he should not be in that office,” he said, insisting that El-Rufai’s allegations were too serious to be waved aside.

The former Kaduna governor had alleged on Sunday Politics that both the Federal Government and Kaduna State were adopting a “kiss-the-bandits” policy by paying as much as ₦1 billion to criminal groups and supplying them food “in the name of non-kinetic measures.”

“What I will not do is pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance, or send food to them in the name of non-kinetic. It’s nonsense; we’re empowering bandits.

“It’s not the government of Kaduna State; it’s a national policy driven by the Office of the National Security Adviser, and Kaduna is part of it,” El-Rufai said, stressing that only military force could end the menace.

The NSA’s office swiftly denied his claims, describing them as “baseless.” Spokesman Zakari Mijinyawa said no arm of government had ever paid ransom or inducements to criminals under the Tinubu administration.

The Nigerian Armed Forces also dismissed the allegation, with Chief of Defence Operations, General Emeka Onumajuru, explaining that the military only runs a disarmament and rehabilitation programme under Operation Safe Corridor.

The Kaduna State Government, through Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Suleiman Shuaibu, described El-Rufai’s remarks as “calculated, malicious lies designed to undermine security efforts, incite public anger, and legitimise criminality.”

Despite the backlash, El-Rufai doubled down on Monday, accusing both the NSA’s office and the Kaduna government of politicising security and hinting at corruption through alleged illicit financial flows and suspicious property acquisitions.

But Baba-Ahmed insisted El-Rufai could not distance himself from the insecurity that has ravaged Nigeria, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of orchestrating the crisis for political gain.

“El-Rufai cannot run away because he is part of it. He was part and parcel of the APC from 2013. He was one of the architects of it all. All of a sudden, he has to come and absolve himself. No. Nasiru is part and parcel of all that has been going on,” he argued.

The LP vice-presidential candidate said Nigerians had been left to suffer the consequences of what he called APC’s “politicisation of insecurity.”

“I think El-Rufai is right that government has been paying them. Insecurity has been the APC’s way of staying in power. That is my candid, firm opinion. If the position of the government is to be paying bandits, then we don’t have a nation,” Baba-Ahmed warned.

Baba-Ahmed Seeks Probe Of El-Rufai Over Bandit Allegation Against FG is first published on The Whistler Newspaper