Senator Accused Of Supplying Arms To Bandits Says Opponents After Him

Senator Shehu Buba, accused of hobnobbbing with bandit kingpins in Bauch state says his political opponents are after him, insisting that the allegations against him are unfounded.

The senator is representing Bauchi south in the Nigerian Senate and contesting the 2027governorship under the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP. He was recently accused of supplying arms to bandits and having nocturnal meeting with the criminals. The state is one of the epicentres of banditry and terrorism in the country.

But in a statement issued on Sunday, Buba a  former Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence,  explained that the allegation against him was fabricated by his opponents, as he never had meeting with bandits in his home,neither supplied them with arms.

He also challenged those making the allegation to substantiate it with fact and evidence, rather than going on the social media to tarnish his image, adding that his decision to leave the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC must have also riled his opponents who are nowmaking unfounded allegations against him.

The senator also disclosed that he has already commenced legal proceedings inNigeria and Niger Republic against those making the allegation against him, saying he welcome any scrutiny against him as a polician who is seeking publci office, but will not accept any blackmail or character assasination against him.

“My decision to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), under whose platform I am pursuing my gubernatorial aspiration, should be debated on policies, competence and vision—not on fabricated allegations,’ he said.

“I welcome scrutiny, but scrutiny must be fair. I do not claim immunity from scrutiny. As a Senator, a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, currently chairing the Senate Committee on Livestock and Animal Husbandry, and now a gubernatorial candidate, I recognise that my actions and associations will be examined. That is democracy.

“There is a difference between investigation and fabrication, between criticism and blackmail, and between political opposition and deliberate character assassination,” he stated, noting that he had initially refrained from responding to the allegation because his previous responsibility as the Chairman of Senate Committee on Securiy and Intelligence requires him to apply high discretion on national security issues.

“National security demands discretion. Operational successes cannot always be publicised without jeopardising ongoing efforts, exposing sources or endangering individuals and communities involved in sensitive interventions,” he said.