El-Rufai is a very difficult person to advise  — Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

Former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has said former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai should focus on clearing his name over corruption allegations, describing him as “a very difficult person to advise”.

Baba-Ahmed spoke on Tuesday on Political Paradigm, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, amid an escalating public dispute between El-Rufai and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

“If I were to advise El-Rufai, there are so few fronts that you’d fight, so try and limit the damage, focus your attention on getting yourself cleaned up on allegations that you stole money from the people…,” Baba-Ahmed said. He added that, by temperament, “Mallam El-Rufai by character is a very difficult person to advise…”

He argued that the various allegations and counter-allegations surrounding the former governor should not be dismissed as political drama but tested in court.

“I’d say that the simpler way to go about this is put all these allegations on the table. They are legal issues, from the allegations of corruption against Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to the allegations that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu… to the allegation of imported, poisoned chemicals.

“All these weighty issues must be brought at the disposal of the judicial process, and we must know what the truths or otherwise of these allegations are; we cannot sweep them on the grounds that this is politics, it’s not good enough,” he said.

The rift intensified after El-Rufai accused Ribadu of ordering his “abduction” at the Abuja airport, claiming that associates had tapped Ribadu’s phone and heard instructions to security operatives to detain him.

El-Rufai also alleged that the NSA was influencing investigations by anti-corruption agencies and the Kaduna State House of Assembly for political reasons linked to an alleged 2031 presidential ambition. He further raised concerns over the reported procurement of thallium sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser and called for public clarification.

Ribadu has denied all the claims, insisting that the alleged ambition was baseless and that agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operate independently.

Reacting to the deterioration of their relationship, Baba-Ahmed said the dispute reflected a deeper problem in Nigeria’s political culture.

“I am extremely saddened by the development. I know both gentlemen and how deep their personal relationship was, and I see one of the poisonous elements of our politics.

“If you can actually poison a relationship with this nature this deeply, then we are in very serious trouble… it is very saddening to see this relationship just simply degenerate to a point that their personal relationship is now so poisoned that nobody thinks about the consequences… we are dealing with a situation of two friends threatening to take legal action against each other,” he said.

Both men were influential figures during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a period in which they built a close professional and personal relationship that later continued through El-Rufai’s tenure as Kaduna governor.

Vanguard News

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