Former Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has waded into the war of words between the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and a former Commissioner at the Police Service Commission (PSC), Hajia Naja’atu Muhammad, saying Ribadu might be suffering a memory loss.
Ribadu had demanded a public apology and retraction from Muhammad, whom he accused of lying against him in a Tik Tok video.
In the Tiktok video, Hajia Muhammad, accused the NSA of serving in President Bola Tinubu’s government, whom he had castigated when he was the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
But in a letter through his lawyer, Dr Ahmed Raji, SAN, the NSA said publicly or privately, he had never maintained such viewpoint, adding that the damage that had been done as a result of the Tiktok video was unquantifiable.
“Clearly, in the text of your recording (reproduced and translated above) you stated that when our client served as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes(EFCC), he allegedly named President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, alongside Sen. George Akume and Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu (all former Governors, and in that order) as the governors in Nigeria who stole the most from public treasury.
“You also stated that today, our client who once held the above odious view about President Tinubu has turned around to be his staunchest defender, especially, with regards to what you stated to be the government’s agenda to silence voices of dissent to the government, citing the alleged arrest of a certain Prof. Usman Yusuf as an example.
“You also stated that our client’s alleged attitudinal change towards President Tinubu means that he has either become a liar or that he lied when he allegedly described President Tinubu, Sen. Akume, Sen. Kalu and other governors as thieves,” read the letter dated February 4, 2025, and signed by Dr. Raji.
Maintaining her stance, Muhammad said she had no reason to tender any apology as the records were there.
El-Rufai, however, defended Muhammad, taunting Ribadu by saying, “Nuhu must have serious amnesia.
“The record of proceedings in the Senate will confirm that Nuhu made those statements, sometime in 2006. The subsequent Daily Trust report below of February 2007, reconfirms the essence of the statements.
“The conclusions of the Federal Executive Council in 2006, which can be subpoenaed from the Cabinet Secretariat of the SGF’s office contain the allegations.
“In that Special FEC meeting in which I was a member, Nuhu’s EFCC made similar presentations accusing many sitting officials, sometime in 2006. These Council Conclusions will further remove all doubts.
“This is for the record and to remind the morally-flexible that at some point in our national life, silence is no longer golden.” the former governor of Kaduna State stated.
Meanwhile, a former senator, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, has lashed out at El-Rufai, asking him to account for the $350 million loan he collected from the World Bank while serving as governor.
Sani was reacting to El-Rufai’s attack on his successor, Governor Uba Sani.
El-Rufai had Tuesday accused Sani of sycophancy and for supporting President Bola Tinubu for personal gains.
The governor had in an interview with TVC news on Monday expressed supriseover increasing criticism of the Tinubu administration by some founding members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including some former governors, who left office less than two years ago.
Reacting to the governor’s comments on his verified X handle, El-Rufai alleged that Sani’s staunch support for Tinubu was because of the N150 billion reimbursements to Kaduna by the federal government in the past 18 months.
Also reacting to El-Rufai’s attack on his Facebook page, Senator Sani said nobodyin Kaduna State could confidently claim they knew the $350 million World Bank loans given to the state was spent.
“The ex-governor of Kaduna State accused the present governor of collecting ‘N150 billion’ from Tinubu and refusing to disclose it to the people of the state. Let’s recall history and find the answers.
“The ex-governor collected millions of dollars in Paris tefund from Buhari and never disclosed it to the people of the state. He collected billions of excess crude funds from Buhari and never disclosed it to the Kaduna public.
“He collected billions in ecological funds from BUHARI and never disclosed it to the Kaduna people,” he said, alleging further that, “He collected billions of special grants from Buhari through the CBN and never disclosed it to the Kaduna public.
“He collected stamp duties in billions from Buhari and never disclosed it to the people of the state. He collected billions from a commercial bank and mortgaged the state’s IGR and never disclosed it to the Kaduna people.
“There is nobody in Kaduna State, who can confidently hold his Holy Book and swear that he or she knows how every kobo of the Kaduna’s $350 million World Bank loans was spent, until the Kaduna Assembly probe.
“If the present governor actually refused to disclose the mythical ‘150 billion’, he must have learned it from the ex-governor. The ex-governor is coming to equity with dirty hands.
“If the present governor is supporting Tinubu because of money, can we say that the former one was supporting and kneeling down for Buhari for the same reason?
“The man with a body odour is accusing another of having a mouth odour. The ex-governor also accused the present governor of betrayal. It’s simply a case of the legend of betrayal being outsmarted by the grand guru.”
