Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has further criticised the Federal Government’s handling of insecurity, insisting that payments are being made to armed bandits despite denials by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
El-Rufai, who first made the allegations during a Channels Television programme on Sunday, claimed that the government has adopted what he described as a “kiss-the-bandits policy,” offering allowances and food supplies to non-state actors under the guise of a non-kinetic security strategy.
“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 said during the interview.
His comments drew a swift response from the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, whose office on Monday described the allegations as false and baseless. In a statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa, the ONSA maintained that it has never engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals, stressing that the administration has consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransoms.
But El-Rufai doubled down in a lengthy statement issued later on Monday, accusing the ONSA and the Kaduna State Government of politicising national security and attempting to suppress evidence of payments to bandits.
“As usual, the combined voices of the Government of Kaduna State and ONSA, instead of responding to the core issues I raised, seek to deflect responsibility by alleging that exposing them amounts to politicising security,” El-Rufai wrote. “We are not the first to reveal the government’s ongoing greasing of the palms of non-state actors in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Kebbi, and other states.”
The former governor alleged that videos and testimonies from traditional rulers, clerics, and community leaders have confirmed that payments to bandits are taking place, adding that attempts at denial “fall flat.” He accused the ONSA of focusing on “protocol, propaganda, and international junkets” instead of discreet intelligence coordination, and warned that the policy was deepening insecurity while draining state finances.
El-Rufai also questioned the meaning of “negotiations with bandits,” asking: “Why is a non-kinetic approach to addressing banditry equal to withdrawing huge amounts of money from state treasuries and handing them over to bandits and terrorists?” He further challenged officials to account for the source of sudden wealth among Abuja property buyers in recent years.
Citing continued killings in Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Kajuru, and other parts of Kaduna State, El-Rufai said the government’s strategy had failed to curb violence. He dismissed what he called “official propaganda” around the rescue of kidnap victims, insisting that families often pay ransoms before such operations are publicised.
The former governor also accused the Kaduna State Government of muzzling local media and concealing security data, contrasting this with his administration’s practice of publishing quarterly security reports. He claimed recent revelations by civil society organisations had exposed what he described as “false facades” about improved security.
In a further swipe at Ribadu, El-Rufai accused the NSA of dragging military and security officers into political events, describing it as “the same politicisation of security personnel that the ONSA purports to disdain.”
“National security is a very serious matter, critical to the peace and prosperity of the country, and the safety and wellbeing of citizens,” he said. “It is unpatriotic to disguise incompetence in understanding it, much less managing it, as media stunts.”
