El-Rufai defends Naja’atu Muhammad, says Ribadu made corruption allegations at FEC meeting

Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, has defended Naja’atu Muhammad, the leader of Northern Star, over her comment against Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA).

In a post shared on X on Wednesday, el-Rufai said Ribadu must be experiencing “serious amnesia” to have forgotten his previous criticisms of certain elected officials.

BACKGROUND

On Tuesday, the NSA, through a letter from his lawyer, Ahmed Raji, requested a public apology and retraction from Muhammad regarding an alleged defamatory comment made on TikTok.

According to the letter, Muhammad, in a video shared on TikTok, claimed that Ribadu had once discredited the virtue of President Bola Tinubu, George Akume, minister of special duties, and Orji Kalu, senator representing Abia north in the national assembly.

Muhammad accused Ribadu of serving in a government led by those he once allegedly reprimanded while he was the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Muhammad is a former commissioner in the Police Service Commission (PSC) representing the north-west geopolitical zone.

‘MUHAMMAD’S STATEMENT ACCURATE’

Reacting to the development, el-Rufai, a former minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), said he was present at the federal executive council (FEC) when Ribadu accused Tinubu and others of corruption.

The former Kaduna governor said the minutes of the FEC meeting, where Ribadu made the allegations, can be found in the office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF).

“Najaatu’s statement is accurate. The record of proceedings in the Senate will confirm that Nuhu made those statements, sometime in 2006,” el-Rufai wrote.

“The subsequent Daily Trust report below of February 2007, reconfirms the essence of the statements.

“The conclusions of the Federal Executive Council in 2006, which can be subpoenaed from the Cabinet Secretariat of the SGF’s office contain the allegations.

“In that Special FEC meeting in which I was a member, Nuhu’s EFCC made similar presentations accusing many sitting officials sometime in 2006.

“These Council Conclusions will further remove all doubts. This is for the record and to remind the morally-flexible that at some point in our national life, silence is no longer golden.”

Since 2023, there have been rumours that el-Rufai, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been at loggerheads with bigwigs in the party.

The rumours began after the former Kaduna governor was unable to scale the ministerial screening hurdle at the national assembly. The senate withheld his confirmation over security clearance.

The decision of the senate was perceived in some quarters as a move to whittle the political influence of the former Kaduna governor.

Recently, el-Rufai started making public statements to criticise the APC and Uba Sani, the incumbent governor of Kaduna.

There have been talks that the former governor may soon pitch his tent with another political party for the 2027 elections.