The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan against returning to the 2027 presidential race, saying he should continue to serve Nigeria as a respected statesman instead.

Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, Wike noted persistent rumours that Jonathan might vie for the presidency again on the PDP platform, though the ex-president has not publicly addressed the speculation.

“I know Jonathan very well. He enjoys being respected internationally as a statesman and I believe he will continue in that role,” Wike remarked.

He sharply criticised those encouraging Jonathan’s return, arguing they are the very figures who undermined him during the 2015 election.

“People pushing Jonathan — what strength do they have? Were they not the same people who worked against him in 2015?” he queried.

The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has rejected claims by Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, that the federal government is funding or incentivising bandits.

During a Sunday interview, el-Rufai alleged that the government’s so-called non-kinetic approach to insecurity was essentially a policy of paying and feeding armed groups.

“What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance or send food to them. Non-kinetic is nonsense. We are empowering bandits. That’s what is going on,” he said.

He further described the policy as misguided, insisting that the only way forward was a hardline strategy: “My position has always been that the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s wipe them out, bomb them, reduce them to nothing. And then the five percent that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated.”

ONSA: Allegation “baseless and false”

In a statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa, head of strategic communications at ONSA, the agency said el-Rufai’s allegations are unfounded.

“Neither the ONSA nor any arm of government has been involved in ransom payments or inducements to criminals,” the statement read, adding that the government has instead warned Nigerians against ransom payments.

The NSA’s office explained that its counter-banditry framework has always relied on a dual strategy: aggressive military campaigns alongside community engagements to address root grievances.

It cited successes in Kaduna State—particularly Igabi, Birnin Gwari, and Giwa—where once-terrorised areas now enjoy relative calm. Mijinyawa also listed captured or neutralised bandit leaders, including Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari, and Boka, as well as the arrest of former Ansaru commanders who had built camps in the region.

He criticised el-Rufai’s remarks as a dismissal of security forces’ sacrifices: “Denial of the sacrifices made by security personnel is unfair and insulting to their memory.”

The NSA’s office urged the ex-governor to stop politicising national security, stressing that the fight against banditry requires collective responsibility, not political point-scoring.

Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, has called out Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi for pledging to serve only one term if elected president, arguing that such promises are dubious and not credible. He made his remarks on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television program.

Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential contender, has consistently stated that four years is sufficient to reset the nation, even stating that “purposeful leadership is not defined by how long one stays in office, but by the impact made.” Amaechi, too, has offered to serve for a single term under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), suggesting rotation could benefit political stability.

In response, el-Rufai countered: “I don’t think anyone believes [one-term promises]. You should not constitutionally give up what is yours. And frankly, as someone who has been governor for eight years—and Amaechi and Peter Obi have both been governors—they know the time it takes to make meaningful change in government. Four years is not enough.”

He continued: “So, I want to appeal to everyone to stop making these commitments of ‘I will do four years’ or ‘I will do eight years’, because nobody believes you.”