Datti Baba-Ahmed calls for probe into El-Rufai’s allegations on FG payments to bandits
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Labour Party (LP) vice presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has urged security agencies to take seriously the allegation by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that the Federal Government is paying allowances to bandits.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed dismissed the rebuttal issued by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), stressing that the matter required investigation rather than denial.
“If the so-called office of the National Security Adviser 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.
He argued that El-Rufai should be compelled to provide details to security agencies. “Nasir should be writing some statements to the police, to the courts,” he added.
Recently, El-Rufai, during an appearance on Sunday Politics, alleged that the Federal Government and Kaduna State were paying “monthly allowances” to bandits and sending them food under what he described as a “non-kinetic” approach.
“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,” El-Rufai said.
“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. Kiss the bandits; that’s the new policy.”
The NSA and the Kaduna State Government have denied the claims, calling them baseless. But Baba-Ahmed questioned the adequacy of such denials.
“That is not a reaction,” he said. “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?”
The LP chieftain maintained that the seriousness of El-Rufai’s claims demanded accountability and a formal investigation.
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