Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has described the former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as a drowning man who is trying to drag Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, NSA, down with him.
Omokri made this assertion on his verified Facebook page, stating that el-Rufai found himself increasingly sidelined in both state and national politics.
He stated that El-Rufai lost out in Kaduna, where the governor has wisely refused to be his Man Friday, and he lost out on becoming a minister after Kaduna residents raised several petitions against him for allegedly paying killer herdsmen, who perpetrated the Southern Kaduna genocide, claiming that the killings unsurprisingly stopped as soon as Nasir left office.
Omokri added that El-Rufai is now turning his attention to Malam Nuhu Ribadu, a man widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most principled public servants.
El-Rufai recently resurfaced with claims allegedly implicating Ribadu, the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in past corruption-related remarks against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, Omokri insisted that a closer look at the evidence provided by El-Rufai suggests that his assertions lack substance.
“In a 2006 statement, Ribadu made a general remark about all serving governors at the time, stating that they were fortunate not to have faced the same fate as convicted former Governors Joshua Dariye and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
“Contrary to el-Rufai’s claims, Ribadu did not single out or accuse then-Governor Tinubu of corruption, nor did he confirm that an EFCC investigation had found him guilty of any wrongdoing,” the statement read.
Omokri argued that Ribadu’s statement was part of a broader law enforcement strategy aimed at deterring corruption among political officeholders, similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “show of force” tactics.
“The EFCC, at the time still in its infancy, sought to establish its authority and reinforce the perception that all public officials were under scrutiny,” Omokri added.
El-Rufai has further cited transcripts from Federal Executive Council meetings to support his claims. However, Omokri challenged him to produce these documents, arguing that their existence is questionable.
He noted that Ribadu’s later relationship with Tinubu, including the former EFCC chairman’s emergence as the Action Congress of Nigeria’s presidential candidate in 2011—a move reportedly facilitated by Tinubu—contradicts el-Rufai’s allegations.
Omokri stated that El-Rufai’s latest manoeuvre comes as no surprise, given his history of shifting loyalties.
“In 2010, he was a vocal critic of then-General Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as ‘perpetually unelectable’ due to his authoritarian past. Just months later, el-Rufai aligned himself with Buhari, becoming one of his most ardent supporters,” he said.
