Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s candidate for vice president in the 2023 elections, has criticized former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai for saying that the government is financing bandits. Baba-Ahmed says that El-Rufai cannot escape guilt.
Baba-Ahmed said that the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is in power, uses instability as a political tool.
He claimed on Channels TV last night that “El-Rufai can’t run away because he is part of it.” This was in response to the former APC leader’s claim.
“My problem with Nasiru’s assertion is that he was a member of the APC from 2013. He told you he was one of the people who helped build it all. He had to come and clear his name all of a sudden. No. All of this has to do with Nasiru. “We suffered; we are victims of Nasiru’s bad rule in Zaria.”
Baba-Ahmed said that the APC has “politicized and orchestrated” insecurity.
“Believe me, I’m in a lot of pain.” Nigeria could be a great place, but people are ruining it every hour. Nasiru says that insecurity has been part of the APC’s game.
“I think he’s right; the government has been paying them.” The APC has stayed in power by making people feel unsafe. “That is my honest, strong opinion, and it is backed up by comments like Nasiru’s that are unfortunate,” he remarked.
He said that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was wrong to ignore El-Rufai’s comments.
“The way ONSA reacted doesn’t disagree with what Nasiru said. He said that Nasiru should have written some thoughts and assertions by now.
“If the Office of the National Security Adviser takes this statement lightly, then Nuhu Ribadu was never a police officer. Nasiru should write to the police and the court. Baba-Ahmed said, “If the government is going to pay bandits, then we don’t have a country.”
El-Rufai’s Claim
El-Rufai caused a stir when he said on Sunday Politics that both the federal government and the Kaduna State government were making things worse by giving bandits more power. He said they paid as much as ₦1 billion to criminal gangs.
I won’t pay bandits, provide them a monthly stipend, or send them food in the name of non-kinetic. It’s absurd; we’re giving criminals more authority.
“It’s not the government of Kaduna State; it’s a national policy that the Office of the National Security Adviser is in charge of, and Kaduna is part of it.” “That’s the new policy,” he replied. “Kiss the bandits.”
El-Rufai, who has been governor for two terms, said that only strong action could stop banditry.
“I’ve always said that the only bandit who is sorry is one who is dead.” Let’s put an end to them all. He said, “Let’s bomb them until they are nothing, and then the five percent who still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated.”
FG’s Response
But the federal government said his claim was false. On Monday, ONSA called El-Rufai’s claim “baseless” in a statement.
“The ONSA, or any other part of the government under this administration, has never paid criminals to do things or offered them money to do things.
“On the other hand, we have always told Nigerians not to pay ransom. The statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa said, “El-Rufai’s claims are not only false, but they also go against facts that can be checked on the ground.”
The ONSA noted that the government’s two-pronged approach of military operations and community involvement had made headway, pointing out that well-known bandit commanders had been killed and numerous Ansaru members had been caught.
The Nigerian Armed Forces also rejected El-Rufai’s claim, saying, “The armed forces of Nigeria do not support the payment of money to criminal groups.”
General Emeka Onumajuru, the Chief of Defence Operations, said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily that the military runs a Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) program through Operation Safe Corridor instead of making money.
The Kaduna State Government, on the other hand, called El-Rufai’s comments “calculated, malicious lies meant to undermine security efforts, stir up public anger, and make crime seem normal.”
Suleiman Shuaibu, the Kaduna Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, said that the former minister of the FCT was trying to destabilize the state after his friends lost the August 16 by-elections.
Even though many were angry, El-Rufai stuck to his guns on Monday, saying that both the ONSA and the Kaduna administration were utilizing security for political purposes.
In a long statement on his social media accounts, he said that state actors were involved in “greasing the palms” of non-state armed organizations and asked the authorities to explain how the payments were supposed to work.
El-Rufai remarked, “It is a well-known fact to discerning Nigerians that the face of the politicization of national security for politically intended purposes resides, for the first time in our recent history, in the ONSA under its present leadership.”
He also asked about possible illegal money transfers, alluding at shady real estate deals in Abuja that he thought were tied to corruption.
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