Datti Baba-Ahmed demands probe of El-Rufai over explosive bandit payment claims

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.

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.