How El-Rufai used taxpayers’ money to pay bandits in Kaduna – Ex-aide reveals

Controversy has reignited in Kaduna State’s political and security circles after Ben Kure, a former aide to ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai, accused his former boss of using taxpayers’ money to bribe armed bandits and herdsmen during his eight-year administration.

Kure, who now serves as the Managing Director of the Kaduna State Media Corporation under Governor Uba Sani, made the shocking claim on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.

He alleged that El-Rufai’s controversial approach to tackling insecurity, rather than resolving the problem, exacerbated the crisis across the state.

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According to Kure, El-Rufai had reportedly admitted in December 2016 that he had engaged herdsmen using state resources in a bid to curb attacks, a move that critics argue may have encouraged further violence.

“Sometimes in December 2016, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, with an air of arrogance, said to the sitting that he had to pay herdsmen so that they would no longer commit mayhem or kill lives. What was the result? It aggravated insecurity by more than a hundred per cent,” Kure recalled.

He accused the former governor of “priding himself” on using public funds to pacify armed groups, a move he argued directly led to untold loss of lives, displacement of farmers, and the collapse of rural livelihoods.

“People were living in fear. They could not even sleep, go to their farms, or earn legitimate money to care for their families and children,” he lamented.

Contrasting the past with present efforts, Kure commended President Bola Tinubu’s administration and Governor Uba Sani, who he said had rejected ransom payments in favour of community-driven peace-building.

He noted that Kaduna’s current security strategy focused on dialogue with traditional rulers, religious leaders and community stakeholders, rather than financial inducements to criminals.

“The government has been talking to them through traditional leaders, religious fathers, and stakeholders. They brought some of the people participating in this heinous crime and reversed their thinking, so they saw the need to live in peace for progress and development,” Kure explained.

The allegations surfaced barely 24 hours after El-Rufai appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he accused both the federal and Kaduna State governments of adopting a “kiss-the-bandits policy.”

El-Rufai mocked the practice of offering food, relief materials, or financial incentives to criminal groups, insisting such measures only embolden them.

“What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance, or send food to them in the name of non-kinetic measures. It’s nonsense; we’re empowering bandits,” he said.

“The only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s kill them all.”

The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) swiftly rejected El-Rufai’s comments, describing them as “baseless and misleading.”

In a statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa, ONSA clarified that no arm of the Tinubu administration had ever engaged in ransom payments or inducements to bandits.

“At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals. On the contrary, we have consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom,” the statement read.

The Kaduna State Government also hit back, with Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Suleiman Shuaibu, accusing the former governor of spreading “calculated, malicious lies designed to undermine security efforts, incite public anger, and legitimise criminality.”

Shuaibu argued that El-Rufai’s remarks were politically motivated, especially in the aftermath of his allies’ defeat in the August 16 by-elections.

The commissioner pointed to recent progress under Governor Uba Sani, including the neutralisation of notorious bandit leaders and the arrest of several Ansaru operatives across Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Kajuru, and Kauru local government areas.

He maintained that unlike in the past, security agencies and community leaders now worked in tandem, gradually restoring confidence among residents in rural flashpoints.