By Senator Shehu Buba has responded to fresh allegations linking him to banditry, describing the claims and accompanying viral videos as part of what he called a sustained campaign of disinformation and character assassination.
He laid out his response in a statement issued Sunday, titled “Setting the Record Straight: My Response to Fabricated Videos, False Allegations and a Sustained Campaign of Disinformation.”
Why he stayed silent until now
Buba, a former chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence and currently chairman of the Senate Committee on Livestock and Animal Husbandry, said his past restraint in responding to allegations was tied to the sensitivity of the security role he once held, not an inability to defend himself.
“For much of my public life, I have resisted the temptation to respond to every allegation, criticism or provocation directed at me.
Citizens have a legitimate right to scrutinise those entrusted with public responsibility, and public officials must be prepared to account for their conduct,” he said, adding that national security work “demands discretion” that operational disclosures could jeopardise.
Where the allegations began
Buba traced the controversy to September 15, 2024, when a militia group allegedly led by Umar Shayi, purportedly operating as hunters for the Bauchi State Agency for Vigilante and Youth Empowerment, reportedly killed two charcoal sellers.
As the district’s senator, Buba said he visited the families of the deceased, called for justice, and vowed to pursue lawful action on their behalf.
He said that intervention was followed by public allegations against him. “Following my intervention, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Abubakar Bununu, publicly linked my name to banditry, an allegation I rejected as false and unsupported by evidence,” Buba said.
He added that Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed subsequently petitioned President Bola Tinubu, alleging that Buba sponsored a “bandit kingpin” for the 2024 Hajj through an aide named Yahaya Ibrahim. Buba denied the claim, said he had no aide by that name, and invited security agencies to investigate.
He said his sponsorship of pilgrims, along with educational, medical and empowerment initiatives, was based on recommendations from community and religious leaders.
He has since filed a defamation suit, marked CV/413/2024, at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory over the allegations.
The account involving Hassan Husseini
Buba said a young man named Hassan Husseini was introduced to him in 2024 as an orphan needing educational assistance.
He said he enrolled Husseini in a private college and an Islamic school in Kaduna and provided him with a bicycle. According to Buba, Husseini later abandoned his education and asked for money to start a car dealership, a request Buba said he declined, advising him to return to school instead.
Buba alleged that Husseini had recorded photographs and videos of visitors to his residence while under his care.
“I later discovered that, while under my care, he had recorded photographs and videos of visitors to my residence. These materials later formed the basis of allegations circulated on social media,” he said.
He further alleged that some individuals who circulated the material later demanded money from him.
Buba said he petitioned the Nigeria Police Force on September 9, 2025, which he said led to the arrest and investigation of several suspects.
Five suspects were arraigned on October 30, 2025, before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/526/2025, on charges including criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, criminal defamation, advance-fee fraud, and extortion.
Buba said he would refrain from commenting further given the matter is before the court, noting the next hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2026.
Response to the latest viral videos
Addressing videos circulated in August 2026 by content creator “D English Alhaji,” which alleged that bandit kingpins had visited his residence, Buba said the material had been misrepresented.
“A subsequent fact-check established that the viral material combined two unrelated clips: footage of Kaduna-based Hajj returnees who visited my residence in 2023, and a separate clip showing different individuals displaying passports,” he said, adding that the individuals in the first clip spoke Fulfulde while those in the second spoke English.
He also referenced a subsequent interview the content creator conducted with Hassan Husseini, in which further allegations were made, and argued that such claims should be subject to proper evidentiary standards rather than accepted because they appear in a viral video.
Buba disclosed that he has submitted a formal criminal complaint against “Hassan Saleh Hussein” to the Public Prosecutor at the Tribunal of First Instance in Niamey, Niger Republic, through a legal practitioner in that country, seeking prosecution for defamation and insult via electronic communication.
His record on security
Buba defended his approach during his two years chairing the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, saying he consistently advocated a combination of military and non-military strategies.
“While kinetic operations are necessary, I consistently advocated complementary non-kinetic strategies involving community engagement, dialogue, intelligence gathering, deradicalisation and confidence-building,” he said, adding that “Nigeria cannot defeat insecurity by military force alone.”
He said some of his interventions in security matters could not be discussed publicly without risking the safety of individuals involved in sensitive operations.
Political context
Buba, who left the APC and is now pursuing a governorship ambition on the Peoples Redemption Party platform, said his political shift had coincided with intensified attacks against him.
He referenced remarks made in July 2026 by former Bauchi State Governor and APC governorship candidate Mohammed Abubakar concerning the source of his wealth, which he described as defamatory and said he had pursued legally.
“Political disagreement should never justify character assassination.
My decision to leave the APC for the Peoples Redemption Party on which platform I am pursuing my governorship aspiration should be debated on policies, competence, and vision, not on fabricated allegations,” he said.
He said he did not claim immunity from scrutiny but insisted that scrutiny should be based 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, adding that “modern disinformation thrives on recycling old allegations, editing them, attaching new captions, and redistributing them until repetition masquerades as evidence.”
He appealed to journalists, editors, fact-checkers, and civil society organizations to independently verify the allegations and his response to them.
(Punch)
