TheCable

Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), says the past administration, led by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, bankrupted Nigeria.

Speaking during the chief of defence intelligence annual conference on Monday, Ribadu said the incumbent government, under President Bola Tinubu, inherited a “bankrupt country”.

The event was themed, ‘Leveraging Defence Diplomacy and Regional Collaboration for Enhanced National Security’.

Ribadu said the federal government is “paying back what was taken”.

“We are facing very serious budgetary constraints. It is okay for me to tell you. It is fine for you to know. We have a very serious situation,” he said. 

“We have inherited a very difficult country, a bankrupt country to the extent that we are paying back what was taken. It is serious.

“But this administration is doing its best to meet our requirements including that of the armed forces.”

Ribadu praised the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) for their exemplary performance that has kept “the peace of the nation”.

“You have done well and you are doing well. You are the reason why we are a nation today. This country is grateful. You are the reason why we have peace. We have a very solid security team, the service chiefs”, he said.

He said despite the constraints, the security situation in the country had improved significantly.

Ribadu, a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was appointed by Buhari as the director of field operations of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council in 2019.

His job was to “lead in the implementation of election monitoring team’s plan for the development of APC field agents to monitor the conduct and vote count on election day”.

Buhari won in the 2019 general elections and went on to serve as the president of Nigeria for a second term of four years.