‘El-Rufai Should Not Fear If His Hands Are Clean’ — NSA Camp Fires Back in Escalating Power Clash

…Top Source Denies 2031 Ambition, Rejects Claims of Orchestrating Arrests

By Jeremy Fregene
The war of words between former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, and National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, intensified early Thursday as a top official in the NSA’s office forcefully dismissed allegations of abuse of power and political persecution.

El-Rufai had claimed on a BBC Hausa Service interview on Wednesday that he feared imminent arrest by the Federal Government and accused Ribadu of directing security agencies to arrest individuals without due process. He also suggested that the NSA was exceeding his constitutional mandate and interfering in judicial processes.

According to El-Rufai, “Four people we worked with in Kaduna have been arrested; so it’s only a matter of time before they come for me too.”
Also speaking with DCL Hausa, El-Rufai alleged that“Nuhu Ribadu just picks his phone and calls any security outfit to arrest anybody without any form of investigation… I am not saying President Tinubu makes the call,” he said.

According to El-Rufai, “It is not the NSA’s job to call EFCC, directing them to arrest this person or that. His job is to advise the President on security issues.
“If he sees a person that is a threat to security, his job is to draw the attention of the President, and he would order an investigation.”

However, a senior official in the Office of the National Security Adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, vigorously countered the claims, describing them as “baseless and mere politics.”

Reacting to widespread reports that the clash between the NSA and El-Rufai was over 2031 political succession, the senior source said “The NSA has not told anyone, privately or publicly, that he wants to succeed President Tinubu in 2031. That narrative exists only in the imagination of those pushing it.
“Mallam Ribadu is fully focused on confronting the grave and roiling security challenges facing the country. That is his mandate and his priority.”

On allegations that Ribadu directs anti-graft agencies to arrest politically exposed persons, the official was emphatic.

“The NSA does not control the EFCC, ICPC or any anti-corruption agency. He cannot sponsor the arrest or prosecution of anyone. These agencies operate within their statutory mandates,” the source said. “To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand, or deliberately misrepresent, how government works.”

The official urged el-Rufai to “harbour no fears” if his record in public office can withstand scrutiny.

“If his hands are clean, whether from his time as Minister of the FCT or as Governor of Kaduna State, then he has absolutely nothing to worry about,” the source stated.

In a pointed remark, the official added that those who should be anxious are not law-abiding citizens and even political leaders, but individuals backing groups recently designated as terrorist organisations.

“Backers of persons or groups now designated as terrorist organisations should be very, very worried right now,” he said. “But any Nigerian whose hands are clean should feel free to go about their lawful business without let or hindrance.”

The sharp rebuttal underscores the deepening rupture between two influential northern political figures whose once-close relationship has deteriorated into open hostility.

Observers note that with el-Rufai warning of a looming arrest and the NSA’s camp insisting that security operations are being conducted strictly within the law, the unfolding confrontation is fast becoming one of the most consequential elite clashes of the Tinubu era, with implications that could stretch well beyond personal grievances into the broader realignment of Nigeria’s political future.