Kaduna State – Governor Uba Sani has accused former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, of politicising insecurity in the state.
Reacting to El-Rufai’s recent comments, Governor Sani argued that firearms alone cannot end banditry in northern Nigeria, stressing that poverty, unemployment, and the neglect of rural communities remain the root causes of the crisis.
Uba Sani Counters El-Rufai
Speaking in Kaduna during the presentation of “Where I Stand”—a book written by the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi and translated into Arabic by Sheikh Ibrahim Jalo Jalingo—Governor Sani dismissed El-Rufai’s claim that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) coordinates ransom payments and incentives to bandits.
“Insecurity cannot be resolved solely through the use of firearms. Whoever makes such a claim is only playing politics. We must fear God and stop deceiving the people, because that approach will not work,” Sani said.
The governor maintained that his administration is committed to a community-driven, non-kinetic peace strategy known as the Kaduna Peace Model. According to him, the model actively involves traditional and religious leaders and has been effective in areas such as Birnin Gwari.
After months of consultations, Sani explained, his government found that banditry is largely triggered by poverty, lack of schools, poor healthcare, and weak economic opportunities in rural communities.
He further noted that insecurity in the North-West differs from Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North-East, which is driven by ideology.
Tinubu’s Government Reacts
Recall that El-Rufai, in a widely circulated interview, accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of adopting a “kiss-the-bandits” policy. He alleged that the federal government had chosen to negotiate with and compensate terrorists rather than confront them militarily.
In response, the Office of the National Security Adviser, led by Nuhu Ribadu, swiftly debunked the allegations, describing them as misleading and unfounded.
Growing Political Tension
The controversy has intensified political tension in Kaduna and beyond. Recently, the police summoned El-Rufai and top officials of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over a planned meeting, raising fresh debates about his influence in the state.
Meanwhile, 2023 Labour Party (LP) vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, also waded into the matter, insisting that El-Rufai cannot absolve himself of blame for the insecurity in the North.
“El-Rufai is part and parcel of the insecurity rocking the country,” Baba-Ahmed said, adding that the former governor must accept responsibility rather than shift blame.
