By our reporter
In a potentially explosive declaration, former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has accused National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, of being behind an alleged plot to destroy his reputation.
To him, Ribadu is allegedly doing so because he (Ribadu) entertains presidential ambition and so is allegedly removing any Northerner in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) perceived as competition.
El-Rufai made the allegations while speaking
on Arise TV on Monday night, February 24.
Should President Bola Tinubu contest and win a second –and final –term in 2027, it would be the turn of the North to produce the country’s leader in 2031.
In 2011 presidential election, Ribadu, flying the flag of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), lost to incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the interview, El-Rufai alleged that, ahead of 2031, Ribadu, who hails from the North, as El-Rufai, is allegedly clearing out opposition from the region to his (Ribadu’s) own ambition.
There was no immediate reaction from Ribadu to the allegations.
The former Kaduna governor claimed that him and Ribadu are former friends, saying “Ribadu is not my friend. We used to be friends.”
El-Rufai added: “Ribadu is behind the project to destroy El-Rufai and my reputation.
“But so far, it has been frustrating for them. They have not found anything to use against me.
“So they are now going to lower-level officers who worked with me, trying to convince them to implicate me in exchange for having their problems resolved.
“The ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission) is now a charade. The EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) is more professional.”
Recall that on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, El-Rufai’s Chief of Staff when he was governor, Bashir Sa’idu, was allowed home from detention after spending about 50 days behind bars in what an apparently livid El-Rufai criticised as a politically motivated incarceration.
ICPC had in early January this year, arraigned Saidu on charges of alleged money laundering.
Saidu, who doubles as Finance Commissioner during the El-Rufai administration, was arraigned together with a civil servant in the state’s Ministry of Finance, Ibrahim Muktar, at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
In case file No. FHC/KD/IC/2025, the defendants faced two counts of money laundering with court documents showing that in March 2022, while serving as Finance Commissioner, Saidu allegedly accepted a cash payment of ₦155 million from Muktar, exceeding the legally permitted amount.
During the Arise TV interview, El-Rufai swore that he never touched public funds beyond what he was legally entitled to.
“I swear to you and to God, I have not taken a penny that I was not supposed to. In fact, as governor, my deputy and I donated 50% of our entitlements, and I have records to prove it.
“Ribadu wants to be President of Nigeria, and his plan is to eliminate every Northerner who appears to be competition,” he stated.
