Former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has advised former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to focus on clearing allegations of corruption against him rather than engaging in multiple political confrontations.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking on Political Paradigm on Channels Television.
He said allegations surrounding the former governor should be subjected to judicial scrutiny instead of being dismissed as political disputes.
“Mallam El-Rufai by character is a very difficult person to advise… 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,” he said.
According to him, the more appropriate course of action would be to present all allegations for legal determination.
“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,” Baba-Ahmed stated.
The comments come amid a public rift between El-Rufai and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
El-Rufai had alleged that Ribadu ordered his “abduction” at the Abuja airport and accused him of influencing investigations by anti-corruption agencies and the Kaduna State Assembly for political reasons, including an alleged 2031 presidential ambition.
He also raised concerns over the alleged procurement of thallium sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser, calling for transparency.
Ribadu has denied the claims, describing the alleged presidential ambition as baseless and maintaining that anti-corruption agencies operate independently.
Reacting further, Baba-Ahmed described the deteriorating relationship between the two former allies as troubling for 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.
