Former vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed has stated that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s allegations that the Federal Government is paying bandits should be taken seriously.
Naija News recalls that El-Rufai, on Sunday, alleged that the Federal Government was paying a “monthly allowance” to bandits and sending “food to them in the name of non-kinetic”.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the former chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) described the move as a “kiss-the-bandits” policy.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Reacting on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Baba-Ahmed said the former governor of Kaduna State should be questioned over his claims.
“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 said on the show, dismissing the rebuttal by the NSA office over El-Rufai’s comment.
When asked what he would have done differently if he were the NSA, Baba-Ahmed said, “Nasir should be writing some statements to the police, to the courts”.
While the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, has denied the claims, labelling them as baseless, Baba-Ahmed downplayed the rebuttal.
“That is not a reaction,” he said about the denial of El-Rufai’s claims by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
“Are people understanding the gravity of this statement?” he asked.
Baba-Ahmed said: “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.
“That is what we call a national policy — it is made public, celebrated, and broadcast to the whole world. Was such a thing held? Why did Nasir say it?”
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