Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, has threatened to take legal action against the Kano State deputy governor, Aminu Gwarzo, for defamation in the ongoing Emirship dispute in Kano.
Gwarzo, in a brief video interview at the Emir’s palace in Gidan Rumfa on Saturday, accused the NSA of arranging the return of the deposed 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, to Kano.
“The National Security Adviser provided two jets to bring the dethroned emir to Kano and to take him to the palace. We have not understood their intention,” Gwarzo said.
Despite denying the allegation through his spokesperson on Saturday, the NSA, in a letter quoted by Daily Trust and issued by his lawyers, Aliyu & Musa Chambers, demanded an apology from Gwarzo.
The lawyers emphasized that while Ribadu had never been accused of any wrongdoing, he had been inundated with “a barrage of telephone calls both within and outside Nigeria” over the “false accusation.”
Read Also:
The letter read in part, “We act as solicitors to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who presently occupies the exalted position of the National Security Adviser (“our client”) and on whose instruction we write this letter.
“The attention of our client was drawn to a video clip being shared on different social media platforms wherein you granted an interview at Emir’s Palace in Kano on Saturday, the 25th day of May 2024, in a very calm atmosphere, and without any provocation whatsoever, falsely accusing our client of using his office to kill the people of Kano State and maim their properties. In the clip, you were shown to be talking in Hausa.
“Your false accusations against our client portraying his office as an appendage of a political party and a willing tool to cause chaos in Kano is false and done with the intention of damaging the hard-earned reputation of our client in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the society and indeed it has succeeded in doing so.”
Ribadu’s legal team stated that the deputy governor should provide substantial evidence to support his claims but without such, should, within 24 hours, retract his accusation and tender a public apology.
It further stated that failure to do so would result in Ribadu seeking redress in court.
