Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the former Special Adviser on Political Matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has launched a frank assessment of the ongoing troubles plaguing Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, stating that the embattled politician is his own worst enemy because he refuses to take counsel.
In an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Political Paradigm’ programme on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed painted a picture of a man whose combative nature has led him to escalate a series of crises that now threaten his freedom, rather than seeking a path to de-escalation.
“Well, unfortunately, Mallam Nasiru, by character, is a very difficult person to advise,” Baba-Ahmed told the programme. He suggested that El-Rufai’s predicament required urgent damage control, but the former governor was in no mood to listen.
“Because if he was amenable to advise, I am sure somewhere along the line there would be someone who would say, ‘try and do some damage control’,” he stated.
Baba-Ahmed noted that the former Kaduna governor initially found himself dealing with a single, albeit serious, issue: allegations of corruption and the misappropriation of over ₦433 billion during his eight-year tenure.
However, instead of focusing his energy on clearing his name regarding the financial crimes, El-Rufai has, according to the former presidential aide, multiplied his problems through his own actions.
“This is a government that takes no prisoners. They are alleging, they are trying to throw before a judge to say, we have evidence that while he was in office, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, he embezzled money and stole money,” Baba-Ahmed said.
It was at this critical juncture that El-Rufai, rather than exercising restraint, chose to go on the offensive.
“There’s a proverb that says ‘when you find yourself in a ditch, stop digging’. The first rule of being in the ditch is stop digging,” Baba-Ahmed said, delivering the central theme of his criticism. “So everything that had happened since his return was just simply escalating and reinforcing the hostility against him.”
Baba-Ahmed highlighted two specific instances where the former governor’s actions backfired spectacularly. First, he pointed to El-Rufai’s appearance on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ programme, where he allegedly admitted to intercepting the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu—an act he acknowledged was illegal.
“Then, now you wrote a letter under your own signature, asking the National Security Adviser to comment or shed light on the importation of dangerous substances within his country,” Baba-Ahmed added, referring to El-Rufai’s recent letter demanding that Ribadu clarify reports of an alleged procurement of thallium sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The combination of these actions, Baba-Ahmed argued, has turned a difficult situation into a catastrophic one. What began as a corruption probe at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has now snowballed into a legal quagmire involving the Department of State Services (DSS), which has filed charges against El-Rufai for cybercrime, and has further strained his relationship with the highest levels of government.
“How far do you want to go in this?” Baba-Ahmed asked rhetorically, expressing bewilderment at El-Rufai’s strategy.
When asked directly if he would have advised El-Rufai to refrain from writing the letter to the NSA, Baba-Ahmed was unequivocal. He stated that if he were in a position to counsel the former governor, he would have urged him to remember his value to his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Well, I’m saying that if I was advising Nasiru under these very difficult circumstances, I would have said, one, you’re a very prominent member of the ADC [APC]. You are more useful to the ADC as a free man, not encumbered by a lot of allegations and fights,” he explained.
He advised that El-Rufai should have limited the number of fronts on which he was fighting. “So try and limit the damage. Focus your attention on getting yourself cleaned up, on the allegation that you stole money from the people of Kaduna state.”
Baba-Ahmed concluded by lamenting that his hypothetical advice was likely never given, or if it was, it was spurned by a man known for his stubbornness.
“But apparently that advice wasn’t given to him, or he didn’t want it. Now, they are saying we have three issues against you,” he said, listing the EFCC probe, the DSS charges over the alleged phone tapping, and the new controversy surrounding the letter to the NSA.
“So, if you put all these things together, the point I’m making is that Mallam Nasir el-Rufai seems to have ignored that proverb, ‘if you’re in the ditch, stop digging’.”
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