Why Hide Terror Sponsors? – Dalung Demands Answers From Authorities

Former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, has accused the Federal Government of deliberately protecting terrorism financiers despite repeated assurances that their names would be published and prosecutions carried out.

In a strongly worded letter shared on the Plateau NUJ platform on Wednesday, Dalung said the authorities have chosen diversionary politics over confronting the menace head-on.

He pointed to longstanding allegations implicating key political figures in aiding terrorism, noting that none have been addressed.

“There are serious claims that top politicians have directly or indirectly supported terrorists,” Dalung said. “Senator Shehu Buba of Bauchi South has been repeatedly accused in the media of sponsoring banditry, with videos showing his interactions with bandits in Zamfara. Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai accused the current NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, of paying and feeding bandits. Even the CDS, General Christopher Musa, promised Nigerians that the names of terror sponsors would be revealed, yet nothing has been done.”

Dalung recalled that the UAE once submitted a list of Nigerian terror financiers to Abuja, but “to this day, those names remain unpublished and unprosecuted—a clear sign of deliberate complicity, not oversight.”

The ex-minister also lashed out at Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, accusing him of leading a “distraction campaign” against state policing while his own constituency suffers from incessant kidnappings and killings.

“It is hypocritical and absurd,” he said. “Instead of demanding accountability, Gagdi is busy opposing state police and distracting from the real issues. His claim that governors can’t be trusted with state policing is weak and inconsistent. Has the Federal Government managed elections or federal security any better? The same system has failed, is corrupt, and riddled with inefficiency.”

Dalung further raised concerns over the ₦3.10 trillion 2025 defence budget, questioning why frontline troops remain poorly armed while terrorists boast superior firepower.

“Why are our soldiers and police left with poor equipment while terrorists outgun them? Why is oil theft thriving under the watch of federal agencies, including the Navy Gagdi oversees?” he queried.

Warning of grave consequences, Dalung said the refusal to expose terrorism financiers could destabilise Nigeria ahead of 2027.

“With stage-managed peace deals and resistance to state policing, the silence around terror sponsors is nothing but a ploy to shield the powerful and manipulate electoral outcomes,” he warned.

Citing late Head of State Sani Abacha, Dalung declared: “If insurgency lasts more than 48 hours, government is involved.”

He aligned with the positions of General T.Y. Danjuma and DSS boss Adeola Ajayi, insisting that Nigeria’s survival depends on constitutional reforms creating state, local government, and community police with full powers.

He also backed citizens’ right to bear arms, stressing: “Anything less amounts to complicity in the destruction of Nigeria.”