Labour Party’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has called for former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to be questioned over allegations that the Federal Government is secretly paying and supplying bandits.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, September 2, Baba-Ahmed said El-Rufai’s claims could not be brushed aside and insisted that the gravity of the allegations demanded accountability.
“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 declared, dismissing the rebuttal issued by Ribadu’s office.
On Sunday, El-Rufai alleged that both the Federal Government and Kaduna State were paying bandits a “monthly allowance” while sending them food supplies in the name of a non-kinetic approach.
He described the approach as a “kiss-the-bandits” policy, claiming it was a national initiative driven by the NSA’s office.
“What I will not do is to 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,” the former APC governor said during his appearance on Sunday Politics.
FG Denies Paying Bandits
The NSA and the Kaduna Government swiftly denied the accusations, describing them as “baseless.” However, Baba-Ahmed rejected the denials, stressing that Nigerians deserved clarity.
“That is not a reaction. Are people understanding the gravity of this statement? A national policy is the official position of a government; an official declaration that this is what we shall be constitutionally doing; what we shall be legally pursuing. Was such a thing held? Why did Nasir say it?, he asked.
Baba-Ahmed urged security agencies to act decisively, noting that El-Rufai’s claims, if untrue, could undermine public trust in government, but if true, represented a dangerous precedent.
“Nasir should be writing some statements to the police, to the courts,” he concluded, insisting that silence from authorities would only worsen doubts about the government’s security strategy.