By Eshioromeh Sebastian
The 2023 Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has taken a swipe at former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai over his public acknowledgment that he intercepted the telephone conversations of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
Baba-Ahmed, who was Peter Obi’s running mate in the last general election, expressed outrage during an interview on MIC ON PODCAST. He was responding to a question about poverty in northern Nigeria when the conversation veered toward El-Rufai’s controversial admission made earlier this year on Arise TV.
The former presidential candidate questioned the moral compass behind such a revelation, insisting that El-Rufai’s words betrayed an unsettling level of entitlement.
“I mean, if not sheer arrogance from money you’ve spent, how dare, on earth, even if you’re drunk, would you say something like that?” Baba-Ahmed asked.
His criticism did not stop at El-Rufai. Baba-Ahmed went further, redirecting his attack toward the legacy of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari. He alleged that during Buhari’s tenure, financial resources became the primary currency for securing influence and access to power.
“Even if you’re insane, they have spent enough money in Buhari’s house, the most corrupt, immoral institution, organ in Nigeria,” he charged.
According to Baba-Ahmed, President Bola Tinubu understood this reality well and played the system to his advantage.
“So, uncle (Tinubu) saw that weakness, and he exploited it to the fullest,” the Labour Party chieftain added.
El-Rufai, who served as governor of Kaduna from 2015 to 2023 and was a key ally of the Buhari administration, has not yet responded to Datti’s latest outburst. The former governor’s February interview, in which he boasted of tapping the NSA’s phone, continues to generate controversy months after it first aired.
Baba-Ahmed and Obi placed third in the 2023 presidential race, behind President Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. Since then, Datti has remained an outspoken critic of what he describes as the erosion of ethical governance in Nigeria.
Discussion about this post