... vows to present evidence
….accuses FG Of ‘Empowering’ Bandits
Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said he and other opposition leaders, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have the political wherewithal to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2027.
He disclosed this during a Channels Television programme on Sunday.
According to him, having been part of those who formed the APC, he knows what is required to retire the ruling party.
“We formed the APC; we know where the dead body is buried. Some of them, like Atiku, know where the PDP’s dead body is buried.
“Together we can face APC. We don’t need to have totally different people from nowhere to challenge APC,” he said.
El-Rufai decried that the economy and security are worse off under President Tinubu.
Salient Times report El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, former governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi and others recently pulled their weight behind the African Democratic Congress as an opposition coalition to unseat President Tinubu.
Kaduna Governor behind Saturday’s attack – vows to present Evidence
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has accused his successor, Uba Sani, of orchestrating the attack on him and other opposition figures in the state.
Salient Times reports that chaos erupted at the official inauguration of a transition committee jointly set up by opposition parties in Kaduna State on Saturday, with suspected political thugs invading the event.
El-Rufai and other participants were attacked and properties vandalized.
Addressing the matter while appearing on Channels TV on Sunday, El-Rufai claimed there is evidence that the state governor orchestrated the attack.
He said, “I have evidence; Kaduna State Governor is behind Saturday’s attacks. I will submit evidence to the IGP and other authorities if they care to investigate.”
He further lamented that “the policing system has collapsed in Nigeria,” alleging that police operatives were watching when the opposition figures came under attack.
Insecurity: El-Rufai Accuses FG Of ‘Empowering’ Bandits
A former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Federal Government of providing a soft landing for bandits terrorising different parts of the country.
He alleged that the government was empowering bandits by paying them a “monthly allowance,” sending “food to them in the name of non-kinetic, describing it as a kiss-the-bandits policy.
“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,” Rufai, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
He faulted what he described as a policy that rehabilitates bandits rather than making them answer for their crimes.
This, he said, was responsible for the lingering insecurity problem in the country.
The former two-term governor stated, “My position has always been [that] the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s kill them all. Let’s bomb them until they are reduced to nothing, and then the five per cent that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated.
“You do not negotiate from the position of weakness. You don’t empower your enemy; you don’t give him money to go and buy sophisticated weapons. That is why the insecurity problem has not gone away and will not go away as long as this policy continues.”
“They can deceive, they can cover up, they can do propaganda, but those that live in Katsina, those that live in Zamfara, those that live in Kaduna, those that live in those states, they know what is happening.”
“Let the governor or anyone come and deny. When the time comes, we will reveal everything,” the former minister added.
There have been growing concerns about insecurity in the country, especially in the north, with recent attacks in Katsina, Benue, and Plateau states.
Although the Federal Government had yet to react to El-Rufai’s claims, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, had in July said that Boko Haram attacks, banditry, and communal conflicts in the northern region had reduced drastically in the last two years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, compared to what the situation was in the last administration.
Citing an example, the NSA stated that 1,192 people were killed and over 3,348 kidnapped in Kaduna State during the previous administration, while more than 5,000 people lost their lives in Benue State within the same period.
Giving an instance, the NSA said 1,192 people were killed and over 3,348 kidnapped in Kaduna State during the previous administration, while more than 5,000 were killed in Benue State within the same period.
He made this known while addressing northern leaders at the ongoing two-day interactive session organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Kaduna State.
Ribadu said that the successes recorded in the fight against insecurity is as a result of President Tinubu’s directive to security agencies on a unified security approach.
He said that the various security operations across the North-West had led to the release of 11,259 hostages as of May 2025.
He also disclosed that several bandit leaders and their gang members had been eliminated by security forces in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina states.
The NSA had also, in April, asked Nigerians to stop giving money to kidnappers and bandits.
