*To Honour EFCC, ICPC Invitations For Questioning Monday, Wednesday
*He Will Be Punished For Tapping NSA’s Phone, Says Presidency
A FORMER governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has claimed that the telephone conversation of Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA) to President Bola Tinubu, was intercepted and that he heard the NSA directing security operatives to detain him.
Speaking on a television programme on Friday, February 13, El-Rufai said: “The NSA’s call was tapped. They do that to our calls too, and we heard him saying they should arrest me.
“The government does it all the time. They listen to our calls without a court order. But someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order.”
He did not provide proof to substantiate his claim and allegation, and there has been no official response from Ribadu, who had previously denied similar allegations.
The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) insisted that Ribadu personally ordered his arrest and was behind an alleged attempt to arrest him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday, Februaru 12, on arrival from a foreign trip.
Recall that El-Rufai was involved in a heated verbal exchange with security operatives at the airport, with security officials briefly restraining him and confiscating his international passport before he was escorted out of the airport.
In response, the presidency has called for a full investigation into his claim of wire-tapping of the NSA’s phone line.
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, voicing concerns about the implications of the claim for national security, said: “El-Rufai has confessed to wire-tapping Nigeria’s NSA on TV.
“Does it mean that he and his collaborators have wire-tapping facilities?”
Insisting that the issue should not be ignored, and stressing the need for accountability, Onanuga added: “This should be thoroughly investigated and punishment meted out.
“El-Rufai is not too big to face the wrath of the law.”
Another presidential aide, Temitope Ajayi, who is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, wrote on his Facebook page:
“El-Rufai admitted on a national television that someone tapped the phone of the NSA for him to listen to his conversation.
“When Charles Aniagolu, the interviewer, interjected that that was an illegal action, El-Rufai agreed to the illegality.
“By the time he is picked up to produce the person who illegally tapped the NSA’s phone, he would say President Tinubu is a ‘tyrant’ and persecuting him.”
Meanwhile, El-Rufai said despite alleged political persecution, he was willing to honour lawful invitations from security and anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, February 16, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) on Wednesday, February 18, for questioning.
“I have nothing to hide,” he insisted.
In a post on his X handle on Friday, the former governor stated: “Yesterday, after the futile attempt to abduct me, the ICPC delivered a letter to invite me to their office.
“My lawyer has written to confirm that I will be attending the ICPC office on Wednesday, 18 February 2026.”
His lawyer, Ubong Akpan, said the invitation from the EFCC was delivered to El-Rufai’s residence while he was already abroad and “we explicitly notified the EFCC that he would voluntarily appear at their office by 10a.m. on Monday, February 16, 2026.”
