The Labour Party vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Datti Baba-Ahmed, on Tuesday, reacted to the statement credited to the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on the country’s security challenge.
El-Rufai had, during a Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics, accused the Federal Government of pursuing what he called a “kiss-the-bandits” strategy.
He claimed that government officials were compensating armed groups instead of confronting them militarily.
The former governor argued that this “non-kinetic” approach only served to embolden the criminals.
He alleged that the federal and Kaduna State governments had paid as much as ₦1 billion to criminal groups in the North-West state.
Baba-Ahmed, who featured in another Channels Television programme, Politics Today, however, said the former governor cannot absolve himself from the nation’s security challenge.
He also alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been using insecurity as a political tool.
The LP chieftain also faulted the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)’s reaction to El-Rufai’s remarks.
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Baba-Ahmed said: “El-Rufai cannot run away because he is part of it.
“My grudge with Nasiru’s statement is that he was part and parcel of the APC from 2013. Like he told you, he was one of the architects of it all. All of a sudden, he has to come and absolve himself.
“No. Nasiru is part and parcel of all that has been going on. We suffered, we are victims of Nasiru’s misrule in Zaria.
“I am in so much pain, believe me. Nigeria should be a great country, yet we have people destroying us by the hour. Insecurity has been part of APC’s game, and Nasiru is saying it.
“I think he is right, the government has been paying them. Insecurity has been the APC’s way of staying in power. That is my candid, firm opinion, strengthened by the kind of unfortunate comments like that of Nasiru.
“The reaction of ONSA is not disputing what Nasiru has said. Nasiru should be writing some comments and statements by now.”
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