Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State in north-west Nigeria, has asked Nigeria’s Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to address claims that it is seeking to procure a toxic chemical substance from outside the country.
Okay News reports that El-Rufai made the request in a letter dated Friday, January 30, 2026, addressed to Nigeria’s National Security Adviser in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. He said he was seeking “clarification and reassurance” over reports that the security office planned to obtain thallium sulphate from abroad.
El-Rufai shared a copy of the letter on Sunday, February 15, 2026, on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. In the letter, he described thallium salts as highly dangerous and tightly regulated, and said transparency was important for public safety and public trust.
“I am writing as a concerned citizen to seek clarification and reassurance regarding information available to the political opposition leadership about a procurement of approximately 10 kilograms of Thallium Sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), reportedly from a supplier in Poland,” the letter said.
He asked the security office to confirm key details, including the intended purpose and end use of the thallium sulphate, the identity of the supplier, and whether the importation followed due authorisation. He also requested information on the quantity and concentration involved, how the substance would be stored, and what regulatory oversight and coordination were in place with Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and other relevant public health and environmental bodies.
El-Rufai further asked whether public health risk assessments or hazard mitigation plans had been developed, given what he described as the compound’s extreme toxicity. He said the inquiry was made in good faith and argued that openness would strengthen confidence in public institutions.
“I want to stress that this inquiry is made in good faith, solely to ensure that due processes, safety standards, and transparency are observed,” he wrote, adding that public confidence grows when potential risks are openly addressed and managed.
He also said he copied the correspondence to NAFDAC and the NCDC, describing both agencies as important to chemical safety and public health preparedness.
The letter comes amid rising political tensions involving El-Rufai and Nigeria’s security agencies. The former governor recently said security operatives attempted to arrest him at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Thursday, February 12, 2026, and he later claimed he learned of an alleged plan to arrest him through details he said were obtained from a leaked conversation tied to the National Security Adviser’s phone.
The wider debate has fed into fresh scrutiny of national security management, sensitive procurement decisions, and the role of oversight institutions in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
As of the time this report was filed on Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 1:56 in the afternoon West African Time (WAT, GMT+1), the National Security Adviser’s office had not publicly responded to El-Rufai’s letter.
