Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has revealed that he listened to a phone conversation involving Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA).
Speaking on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, el-Rufai said “someone tapped” Ribadu’s phone, which allowed him to hear the NSA allegedly instructing security operatives to arrest him.
He admitted the action was illegal but claimed that the government routinely monitors calls.
“He made the call because we listened to their calls. The government thinks they are the only ones that listen to calls but we also have our ways. He made the call and gave the order,” el-Rufai said.
“Someone tapped his phone. The government listens to our calls all the time without a court order. Someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order.”
The statement has drawn a response from Temitope Ajayi, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity.
“El-Rufai admitted on national television that someone tapped the phone of the NSA for him to listen to his conversation,” Ajayi wrote on X.
“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.”
