By Muhammad Mamman
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has intensified his criticism of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Kaduna State Government, accusing both of deflecting responsibility and politicising national security.
In a statement on Monday, El-Rufai said: “Rather than address the core issues I raised, the Kaduna State Government and ONSA have chosen to dismiss them as politicisation of security. This is nothing more than an attempt to avoid accountability.”
The former governor, who highlighted his family’s military background, reaffirmed his respect for the sacrifices of Nigeria’s armed forces. “As someone whose three siblings served in the Army and Air Force—one of them rising to the rank of general—I will always honour our citizens in uniform for their sacrifices to keep Nigeria safe,” he noted.
El-Rufai, however, accused ONSA of poor leadership and collusion, alleging that the office had been working with a northern senator while mishandling security operations. “If the ONSA believes Nigerians are blind to its unclear and incompetent management of terrorism and banditry in the North and beyond, then it urgently needs to review its approach,” he declared.
He further claimed his administration was the first to expose what he described as the Federal Government’s practice of “greasing the palms of non-state actors” across Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Kebbi and other states. He criticised National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu for, in his words, “feigning ignorance” of such actions.
Accusing the ONSA of neglecting intelligence work, El-Rufai said the office had been reduced to “lousy protocol and PR duties” instead of coordinating security with professionalism and discretion.
