Thallium Sulphate: Release NSA’s Response To Your Letter, Presidency Tells El-Rufai

The presidency has challenged former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to release the reply he received from the Pffice of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to a letter he had written alleging government procurement of Thallium sulphate from Poland.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Temitope Ajayi, in a statement posted on his X handle on Sunday, accused El-Rufai of being “mischievous” by releasing only his own letter to the public while withholding the NSA’s response.

“He knew there was no government procurement or importation of Thallium sulphate into Nigeria from Poland through the office of the National Security Adviser. El-Rufai certainly got a reply to his letter from the NSA’s office, and he should be honourable enough to release it just as he mischievously released his own letter,” Ajayi said.

The presidential aide said El-Rufai’s recent actions were driven by two clear motives: to create political tension and damage the government through deliberate misinformation, and to divert attention from corruption allegations he was facing in Kaduna State.

“To draw attention to himself and project himself as a victim of persecution, he wants to nationalise his personal problems with his home state government, knowing that Nigerians will not be on his side over corruption charges,” Ajayi stated.

He noted that El-Rufai had lost the support of virtually every critical stakeholder in the state he governed for eight years, including his successor, Governor Uba Sani, whom El-Rufai had supported to become a Senator and later governor.

Ajayi further noted that all 28 members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly unanimously endorsed a petition to both the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe El-Rufai over N432 billion corruption allegations. Both agencies, he said, have since invited the former governor for questioning.

“Instead of behaving like a drowning man holding on to a straw to stay afloat, Mallam El-Rufai should brace up to face his corruption allegations and make peace with himself and his own people,” Ajayi said.

The presidency maintained that the problem was not President Bola Tinubu or the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, but El-Rufai’s fractured relationship with his own political base in Kaduna State.