- Safiu Kehinde
The National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has joined others political dignitaries at the funeral prayer held in honour of the late Umma El-Rufai, the mother of former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
Ribadu, who was among the first persons to send condolence message to El-Rufai despite his rift with the ex-Kaduna governor, arrived at the National Mosque in Abuja for the funeral prayer.
Video posted on X showed the NSA exchanging pleasantries with other dignitaries at the mosque before taking his seat.
The gesture had sparked mixed reactions from netizens with some commending Ribadu over his appearance at the event despite El-Rufai’s criticisms and allegations against him.
NPO Reported that the former Kaduna governor had earlier this year accused the Ribadu of orchestrating his attempted arrest by security personnel at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
El-Rufai, in defence of his allegation, disclosed tapping into the NSA’ telephone conversation to get the information.
The confession triggered his ongoing litigation cases with the Department of State Services (DSS) who accused him of cybercrime.
This would be followed by his brief detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged financial infractions before the Independent and Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) swept in, rearrested, and detained El-Rufai since February before his arraignment last week.
However, the ICPC would grant the ex-Kaduna governor a temporary bail over the death of his mother.
Meanwhile, the presence of Ribadu at the funeral prayer had attracted commendation from netizens.
Some however talked down his appearance at the event.