Ribadu Is Suffering Memory Loss– El-Rufai Attacks NSA Boss For Denying Ever Calling Tinubu, Others Corrupt
Former Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has stepped into the heated exchange between National Security Adviser (NSA) Malam Nuhu Ribadu and former Police Service Commission (PSC) commissioner, Hajia Naja’atu Muhammad.
Ribadu had earlier demanded a public apology and retraction from Muhammad over her claims in a viral TikTok video, where she accused him of hypocrisy for serving in President Bola Tinubu’s government despite allegedly criticizing him during his tenure as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Recall that in a letter through his lawyer, Dr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, Ribadu insisted that he had never made such statements, either publicly or privately, and described the damage from the video as “unquantifiable.”
The letter read in part,
“Clearly, in the text of your recording [reproduced and translated above] you stated that when our client served as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes, [EFCC] he allegedly named President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, alongside Sen. George Akume and Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu [all former Governors, and in that order] as the governors in Nigeria who stole the most from public treasury.
“You also stated that today, our client who once held the above odious view about President Tinubu has turned around to be his staunchest defender; especially, with regard to what you stated to be the government’s agenda to silence voices of dissent to the government, citing the alleged arrest of a certain Prof. Usman Yusuf as an example.
“You also stated that our client’s alleged attitudinal change towards President Tinubu means that he has either become a liar or that he lied when he allegedly described President Tinubu, Sen. Akume, Sen. Kalu and other governors as thieves.”
However, Muhammad stood her ground, insisting she had no reason to apologize, as the records of Ribadu’s past statements were readily available.
Weighing in on the controversy, El-Rufai sided with Muhammad, taking a swipe at Ribadu, saying, “Nuhu must have serious amnesia.”
“The record of proceedings in the Senate will confirm that Nuhu made those statements, sometime in 2006. 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.”
