Datti Baba- Ahmed , Labour Party Vice Presidential Candidate during the 2023 general election
Labour Party’s 2023 vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has called for former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to be questioned regarding his claims that the Federal Government is paying bandits as part of a national policy.
Speaking on Channels Television’s _Politics Today_ on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed insisted that El-Rufai’s allegations warrant serious investigation.
Dismissing the rebuttal from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Baba-Ahmed stated, “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 further urged that “Nasir should be writing some statements to the police, to the courts” to clarify his claims.
El-Rufai, a former All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, alleged on _Sunday Politics_ that both the Federal Government and Kaduna State were paying bandits a “monthly allowance” and providing food under a “non-kinetic” approach.
He criticized this as a “kiss-the-bandits” policy, stating, “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.”
He added, “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.”
Despite denials from NSA Nuhu Ribadu and the Kaduna State Government, who labeled the claims baseless, Baba-Ahmed questioned the dismissal, saying, “That is not a reaction.” He emphasized the severity of the allegations, asking, “Are people understanding the gravity of this statement?”
He clarified that a national policy is an “official declaration that this is what we shall be constitutionally doing; what we shall be legally pursuing,” questioning why El-Rufai made such claims if no such policy was publicly declared.
“Was such a thing held? Why did Nasir say it?” he pressed.
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