Phone-tapping charge: Court fixes Oct 26 to rule on El-Rufai’s bid to stop trial

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Nasir El-Rufai

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… he has a case to answer, FG insists

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By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Abuja

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday fixed October 26 to rule on a motion the detained former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, filed to stop his trial over allegations that he unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.

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El-Rufai, through his team of lawyers led by Mr Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the court to discharge and acquit him of the five-count amended charge the Federal Government preferred against him through the Department of State Services (DSS).

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He insisted that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case to warrant the court compelling him to enter a defence to the charge, which he described as incompetent.

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The defendant therefore prayed the court to uphold his no-case submission and terminate further proceedings on the matter.

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However, the prosecution counsel, Mr Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the application and order the defendant to open his defence to the charge.

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Aladedoye maintained that the oral and documentary evidence laid before the court was sufficient to tie the defendant to the allegations against him.

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After listening to both sides, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned to rule on the application.

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It will be recalled that the FG closed its case after two witnesses testified before the court.

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The court had, on July 23, dismissed as lacking in merit an application the former governor filed for the variation of his bail conditions, which he described as very stringent and difficult to fulfil.

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According to El-Rufai’s lawyer, the bail conditions sought to be varied included the requirement that the defendant produce level 17 civil servants with properties in Maitama or Asokoro, as well as verification and attestation letters from the Kaduna State traditional council.

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However, the prosecution opposed the variation request, insisting that qualified public officers who could meet the conditions exist and could easily be secured by the defendant.

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It therefore persuaded the court to reject the application.

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Delivering a ruling on the matter, Justice Abdulmalik agreed with the prosecution, saying she found no reason to alter the initial bail conditions, which she said were intended to ensure the defendant’s attendance at his trial.

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El-Rufai, who was governor between 2015 and 2023 and also served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, is facing trial over comments he made when he appeared as a guest on Arise Television on February 13.

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It was alleged that the defendant, during his appearance on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme in Abuja, admitted that he knew and was associated with an individual who had illegally intercepted the NSA’s telephone communications.

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Aside from the allegation that his action breached national security and public safety — an offence punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024 — the former governor was also charged with failing to report the crime to the relevant security agencies.

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The embattled former governor had, during the TV interview, reacted to what he described as an attempt by DSS operatives to “abduct” him at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on February 12, 2026, upon his return from Cairo.

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He insisted that the security agency was being instigated by the ICPC, which he said had received a directive from the NSA, Ribadu, to detain him.

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The former governor claimed the information reached him through someone who had listened in on the NSA’s telephone conversations.

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Shortly after being accused of admitting that he used “technical equipment” to illegally intercept the NSA’s calls, El-Rufai filed a motion to stop his trial.

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He gave 17 reasons why the charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, should be quashed by the court.

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He argued that the charge was incompetent and legally defective, insisting that the DSS had no legal basis to elevate a “casual remark” he made during a television interview into “a confession” that he had indeed tapped the NSA’s telephone line, as alleged.

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He argued that the statement he made on Arise TV did not constitute a confessional statement in law, saying that for a statement to be admissible as a confession, it must be made under caution, voluntarily, and in circumstances that satisfy the judges’ rules.

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El-Rufai maintained that the statements he made during his television interview were made without caution or warning, in a voluntary public discussion, and without the protections afforded to suspects in custody.

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“A casual remark on a television programme cannot be elevated to a judicial confession,” he further argued.

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However, the court declined to quash the charge and ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.

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