President Bola Tinubu’s administration has taken a swipe at former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai over comments faulting the administration’s non-kinetic approach to addressing insecurity in the country.

Mr El-Rufai, in a recent Channels TV interview, faulted what he described as “kiss-the-bandits policy” under Mr Tinubu, accusing his administration of paying bandits and kidnappers in the name of a non-kinetic approach.

The former governor also claimed insecurity has worsened in Kaduna under Governor Uba Sani Uba’s watch, accusing his administration of empowering bandits.

Posting a snippet of the interview on X on Monday, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga described Mr El-Rufai as a confused “master of ambivalence”, accusing him of leading the way in paying bandits and opposing the approach he once supported.

“Malam Nasir EL-Rufai is the master of ambivalence. Once upon a time, he supported and led the way in paying bandits to calm them. Today, in the name of politics, he opposes it,” Mr Onanuga wrote.

Mr El-Rufai’s administration as Kaduna governor was marked with security challenges, especially killings in Southern Kaduna and kidnapping for ransom.

Despite being accused of escalating the crises with his punitive policies, Mr El-Rufai, in the interview, boasted he dealt with the situation without paying bandits or kidnappers.

Meanwhile, Mr Sani dismissed the allegations as political mischief, saying his administration had never paid a dime to bandits.