Bauchi Senator Buba Denies Sponsoring Banditry, Calls Allegations Fabricated

Senator Shehu Buba has rejected online allegations linking him to bandit leaders and accusing him of sponsoring banditry in northern Nigeria, calling the claims fabricated and politically motivated.

The allegations say high-profile bandit leaders visited his home and that he sponsored some of them to undertake the hajj pilgrimage. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, Buba said he had faced propaganda, false narratives and manipulated videos since 2024. He said he had taken legal action against people behind the allegations in courts in Nigeria and Niamey, Niger Republic.

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These claims must be subjected to proper evidentiary standards, not accepted merely because they appear in a viral video.

Buba said he submitted a criminal complaint through a lawyer in Niger to the Public Prosecutor at the Tribunal of First Instance in Niamey. The complaint seeks the prosecution of Hassan Saleh Hussein for alleged defamation and insult through electronic communication.

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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.

According to Buba, the campaign intensified after he left the All Progressives Congress and became the Peoples Redemption Party’s candidate for governor of Bauchi State. He said old and manipulated videos were being recirculated with new captions to suggest that he had links to bandit groups. “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.

The senator said legitimate security engagements and acts of compassion had sometimes been removed from context and presented as evidence of wrongdoing. He said he was open to scrutiny but insisted that it must rely on verifiable facts. “There is a difference between investigation and fabrication, between criticism and blackmail, and between political opposition and deliberate character assassination,” he said. He urged journalists and civil society organizations to independently examine the videos and other material being circulated against him.

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There is a difference between investigation and fabrication, between criticism and blackmail, and between political opposition and deliberate character assassination.