A former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Federal Government of financing terrorists instead of confronting them, warning that the policy threatens national security.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, El-Rufai criticised what he described as a misguided “non-kinetic” approach to insecurity, alleging that officials are paying and feeding bandits rather than eliminating them.
“What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance or send food to them. Non-kinetic is nonsense. We are empowering bandits. That’s what is going on,” he said.
El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna between 2015 and 2023, alleged that the strategy of negotiating with and compensating armed groups is a national directive driven by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“It’s a national policy… Many states are objecting to it. But that is the policy now,” he added.
He maintained that dialogue with terrorists only emboldens them.
“My position has always been that the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s wipe them out, bomb them, reduce them to nothing. And then the five per cent that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated,” he declared.
El-Rufai argued that negotiating from a position of weakness allows criminal groups to grow stronger.
“You don’t empower your enemy. You don’t give him money to buy more sophisticated weapons. That’s why the security problem has not gone away,” he said.
Citing recent reports by SBM Intelligence and Sahara Reporters, he claimed insecurity in states such as Kaduna and Zamfara has worsened, while accusing the government of suppressing critical media reports.
“What the government has been doing, both at the national and state levels, is buying the media from reporting it,” he alleged.
El-Rufai, who described himself as one of the founding fathers of the All Progressives Congress, defended his record, noting that his administration created a Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs and never paid off criminal groups.
He insisted the current approach has failed Nigerians across security, economy, and governance.
