ABUJA, Nigeria — Former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai has sharply criticised the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Kaduna State Government (KDSG), accusing them of incompetence, propaganda, and politicising national security in their handling of terrorism and banditry.
The response, issued on Monday, September 1, 2025, followed ONSA’s dismissal of el-Rufai’s earlier claims that the federal government had been paying and incentivising bandits under what officials call a “non-kinetic” security approach.
In a televised interview on Sunday, August 31, 2025, el-Rufai said: “What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance or send food to them. Non-kinetic is nonsense. We are empowering bandits. That’s what is going on… My position has always been that the only repentant bandit is a dead one.”
ONSA denied the allegations, insisting that no government arm had paid ransoms or inducements to criminals.
But el-Rufai doubled down in his statement, saying both ONSA and the Kaduna State Government were attempting to “deflect responsibility” by accusing critics of politicising security.
“It is a well-known fact to discerning Nigerians that the face of the politicization of national security for politically intended purposes resides, for the first time in our recent history, in the ONSA under its present leadership,” he said.
El-Rufai insisted that “greasing of the palms of non-state actors” was already documented in states including Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, and Kebbi.
He pointed to audio and video statements from traditional rulers and community leaders who, he claimed, had condemned such payments.
He challenged ONSA to explain what it meant by “negotiations with bandits” and questioned whether public funds were being diverted to militants through intermediaries.
“Who are the most prolific purchasers of prime real estate in Abuja in the last two years and what is the source of their new-found wealth?” he asked.
The former governor also condemned what he described as ONSA’s preference for “protocol and public relations duties” over discreet intelligence coordination.
He cited examples of bandit attacks continuing in Kaduna despite reported negotiations, and questioned official claims of “rescued victims” after families had already paid ransoms.
“The parade at the ONSA of ‘rescued victims’ whose families usually frown at the narrative of being ‘rescued’ after they have paid ransoms is another unfortunate propaganda and official falsehood,” he said.
El-Rufai further linked ONSA and KDSG to the disruption of opposition activities, including the attack on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) transition committee meeting in Kaduna on Saturday, August 30, 2025.
He alleged that the use of thugs against opposition gatherings showed how state security had been politicised.
“The thuggery unleashed against the ADC meeting… shows that government officials and some officers of security agencies have succumbed to blandishments to sponsor and enable violence against those that legitimately oppose their government,” he said.
The former governor urged ONSA and KDSG to focus on eliminating insecurity rather than “seeing in the misery of affected citizens’ opportunities to claim false glories and divert and squander funds.”
“National security is a very serious matter, critical to the peace and prosperity of the country, and the safety and wellbeing of citizens. It is unpatriotic to disguise incompetence in understanding it, much less managing it, as media stunts,” he said, ending with a pointed admonition: “Tell no lies, claim no easy victories.”
