The Department of State Services is set to bring former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai before a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, February 25, on charges of cybercrime and breach of national security arising from his claim that he listened to an intercepted phone conversation of the National Security Adviser.
The secret police filed a three-count charge against El-Rufai on Monday, accusing him of unlawfully intercepting a telephone conversation involving NSA Nuhu Ribadu in violation of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.
The charges stem from remarks El-Rufai made during an interview on Arise News, where he openly claimed that someone tapped Ribadu’s phone, allowing him to listen to the NSA allegedly ordering security operatives to arrest him.
El-Rufai will appear before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik to answer to the charges, which the DSS says constitute serious breaches of national security.
The arraignment adds another layer to the former governor’s rapidly mounting legal troubles.
On February 18, the DSS briefly took El-Rufai into custody after he had already spent two nights at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which had been questioning him over separate financial matters.
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He is also currently being held by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over allegations of corruption linked to his eight-year tenure as governor of Kaduna State between 2015 and 2023.
The former governor’s legal battles have drawn significant public attention, particularly given his increasingly vocal criticism of the Tinubu administration in recent weeks.
El-Rufai had accused the government of executive overreach after security operatives allegedly attempted to arrest him without a warrant at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport upon his return from Egypt earlier this month.
His admission on national television that he accessed a tapped phone call of the NSA drew swift condemnation from the presidency.
Presidential Spokesperson Bayo Onanuga demanded a full investigation, warning that El-Rufai was “not too big to face the wrath of the law.”
Wednesday’s court proceedings are expected to intensify scrutiny of El-Rufai’s political and legal confrontations with the federal government as multiple investigations by Nigeria’s security and anti-corruption agencies continue to unfold simultaneously.