'Clear Your Name' - Baba-Ahmed Tells 'Difficult' El-Rufai
Last update: February 18, 2026
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Baba-Ahmed urges El-Rufai to focus on clearing himself of corruption allegations...
A former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has urged ex-Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai to concentrate on clearing his name over corruption allegations, describing him as “a very difficult person to advise.”
CBI News reports that Baba-Ahmed made the remarks on Tuesday during an appearance on Political Paradigm, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, amid the escalating dispute between El-Rufai and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
“If I were to advise El-Rufai, there are so few fronts that you’d fight, so try and limit the damage, focus your attention on getting yourself cleaned up on allegations that you stole money from the people,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He added, “Mallam El-Rufai by character is a very difficult person to advise.”
Baba-Ahmed maintained that the various claims and counter-claims surrounding the former governor should not be dismissed as mere political drama but subjected to judicial scrutiny.
He said, “I’d say that the simpler way to go about this is put all these allegations on the table. They are legal issues, from the allegations of corruption against Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to the allegations that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu… to the allegation of imported, poisoned chemicals.
“All these weighty issues must be brought at the disposal of the judicial process, and we must know what the truths or otherwise of these allegations are; we cannot sweep them on the grounds that this is politics, it’s not good enough.”
The rift between the two political figures deepened after El-Rufai accused Ribadu of ordering his “abduction” at the Abuja airport, alleging that associates had tapped Ribadu’s phone and overheard instructions to security operatives to detain him.
El-Rufai further claimed that the NSA was influencing investigations by anti-corruption agencies and the Kaduna State House of Assembly for political reasons linked to an alleged 2031 presidential ambition.
He also raised concerns over the reported procurement of thallium sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser, calling for public clarification.
Ribadu has denied the allegations, describing the claims of presidential ambition as baseless and insisting that agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operate independently.
Reacting to the deteriorating relationship between the two men, Baba-Ahmed expressed sadness over the development, noting that both were once close allies.
Baba-Ahmed said, “I am extremely saddened by the development. I know both gentlemen and how deep their personal relationship was, and I see one of the poisonous elements of our politics.
“If you can actually poison a relationship with this nature this deeply, then we are in very serious trouble… it is very saddening to see this relationship just simply degenerate to a point that their personal relationship is now so poisoned that nobody thinks about the consequences… we are dealing with a situation of two friends threatening to take legal action against each other.”
Both El-Rufai and Ribadu were prominent figures during the administration of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, a period in which they forged a close professional and personal alliance that endured through El-Rufai’s tenure as governor of Kaduna State.
