Ribadu declines reply to El-Rufai’s attacks, says former Kaduna gov’s claims untrue
Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has said he would not respond to attacks on him by Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State.
El-Rufai had in a TV appearance on Monday blamed the NSA for the ongoing probe of his administration by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
He also accused Ribadu of using the incumbent Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, to tarnish his image.
“Ribadu is the architect behind my investigation and the attack on my commissioners,” the former governor claimed in an interview on Arise TV on Monday. “He wants to be the president in 2031, so he is determined to eliminate any of us who he sees as an obstacle to his ambition. Just last week, I got an information that Ribadu is asking everyone to get me indicted by whatever means.”
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But responding to the former governor’s claims on Monday night, Ribadu urged the public to disregard the allegations, saying they are false.
Ribadu said, “My attention has been drawn to the interview granted by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State Monday evening.
“If my silence wouldn’t risk being construed as consent, I would have ignored him. I am too preoccupied with my current assignment to get into a media fight with Nasir El-Rufai or anyone else.
“Despite the incessant baiting and attacks I have never spoken ill of Nasir on record anywhere. This is out of respect for our past association and our respective families. I will not start today.
“I however urge the public to disregard El-Rufai’s statements against me.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I want to put it on record that I have never discussed running for president in 2031 with anybody. All my focus and energy are geared completely towards the advancement of Nigeria and the success of the President Tinubu administration.
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“I therefore ask Nasir El-Rufai to allow me face my onerous national assignment just as I do not bother myself with his own affairs.’
El-Rufai and Ribadu were friends and allies during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. They, however, fell out politically in 2011, although they are both members of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
In his Monday interview, El-Rufai also indicated that he may quit the APC and said President Bola Tinubu changed his mind about having him in his cabinet after nominating him.
He said, “Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans and told President Tinubu from day one when he asked me to support him, I said would, but I don’t want anything because politics in Nigeria is always about what do I get for giving you support.
“I’m not in politics for that reason. I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname, and I’m a self-made man. I’ve made money before coming into public office. I don’t need anything. After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out. I was struggling for eight years and I wanted to take a break, and I had my private plans.
“The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold, and through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister and there were certain conditions I attached to that.
“I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly had nothing to do with this. The President didn’t want me in his cabinet. He changed his mind. Whatever it is, I don’t care, and I’ve moved on.
“Since I’ve moved on, I’ve not said a word, I’ve not granted an interview, I’ve not commented on the government, but it is within my right as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress to ask why the party isn’t functioning.”
On the issue of the security report, which was used by the National Assembly to reject his nomination, El-Rufai said, “What was the security issue? I have been the governor for 8 years in one of the most difficult states in the country. Where is the report? What about other ministers who are far less qualified and have huge controversies around them that scale through because the president makes a call.”
