Wiretapping allegation: DSS explains reason for detaining El-Rufai in court filing

The Department of State Services (DSS) provided video evidence in the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, explaining why Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, was relocated to its custody, as the judge adjourned the case to June 22.

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The relocation occurred on Monday, after El-Rufai appeared in court for the continuation of his trial on a five-count charge of alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu.

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The move sparked protests from El-Rufai's family, who claimed it disobeyed a subsisting court order allowing the defendant to be kept in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

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According to the DSS, the relocation was due to the unruly conduct of some family members, who made unfounded allegations against the ICPC, with one of El-Rufai's wives livestreaming claims on May 15 that her husband was being denied food and access to his personal physician and family members.

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The prosecution counsel, Mr. Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, accused El-Rufai's family of trying to use the media to incite the public against the judiciary, and criticized the family for livestreaming their criticisms of the court's conditions for the defendant's release on bail.

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The DSS also mentioned that a politician, Mr. Timi Frank, had alleged that the defendant could be harmed in custody, as El-Rufai faces multiple cases in both Abuja and Kaduna State.

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El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to all the allegations against him, and had previously reacted to an attempt by DSS operatives to "abduct" him at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on February 12, 2026.

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He claimed the DSS was being instigated by the ICPC, which he said had received a directive from the NSA, Ribadu, to detain him, and that this information came from someone who had listened in on the NSA's telephone conversations.

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In a motion to challenge his trial, El-Rufai gave 17 reasons why the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026 should be quashed by the court, arguing that the charge was incompetent and legally defective.

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El-Rufai argued that the DSS has no legal basis to elevate a "casual remark" he made during a television interview to "a confession" that he had indeed tapped the NSA's telephone line as alleged, and that the statement did not constitute a confessional statement in law.

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He maintained 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, and that his statements on Arise TV were made without any caution or warning.

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El-Rufai further argued that "a casual remark in a television programme cannot be elevated to a judicial confession", but the court declined to quash the charge and ordered the prosecution to open its case.