Combined image of Datti Baba Ahmed and Nasir El-Rufai (L-R)

Vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has faulted former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over his claim that the Federal Government is paying bandits.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed argued that El-Rufai cannot absolve himself of responsibility, having been a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“El-Rufai cannot run away because he is part of it,” he declared. “My grudge with Nasiru’s statement is that he was part and parcel of the APC from 2013. He told you himself he was one of the architects. All of a sudden, he wants to absolve himself? No. We suffered. We are victims of Nasiru’s misrule in Zaria.”

Baba-Ahmed accused the APC of deliberately using insecurity as a political strategy.
“Insecurity has been politicised and orchestrated by the APC. It has been their way of staying in power,” he said. “I think Nasiru is right that the government has been paying bandits. That is my candid, firm opinion, strengthened by comments like his.”

He also criticised the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for what he described as a dismissive reaction to El-Rufai’s allegations.

“The reaction of ONSA is not disputing what Nasiru has said. If the NSA’s office takes this statement with levity, then Nuhu Ribadu was never a policeman,” Baba-Ahmed stated.

According to him, El-Rufai should be made to formally account for his claims:
“Nasiru should be writing to the police, to the court. If the position of the government is to be paying bandits, then we don’t have a nation.”