The Federal Government has the legal power to monitor the phone conversations of Nigerians when it concerns national security, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has said.
Ajayi made the statement while replying to a comment on Facebook. He was reacting to a post where he criticised former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for admitting that an unnamed person illegally tapped the phone of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
“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,” Ajayi wrote on Facebook.
A Facebook user, Asiwaju Bode Gbadebo, then commented: “He (El-Rufai) accused government of doing same illegality.”
Responding, Ajayi said the “government can legitimately listen to your conversation for national security reasons. Only govt is allowed to do what is illegal for citizens to do to protect and preserve the collective. You can’t carry gun but govt can carry gun and the firearm arm that is allowed for citizens under the law must be licensed by govt.”
El-Rufai had earlier appeared on Prime Time on Arise TV on Friday. He spoke about an alleged move by the Department of State Services to arrest him, which he claimed was ordered by Ribadu.
On the programme, the former governor said, “Ribadu made the call because we listened to their calls. The government thinks that they’re the only ones that listen to calls. But we also have our ways. He made the call. He gave the order that they should arrest me.”
When the interviewer pointed out that tapping the NSA’s phone was illegal, El-Rufai replied: “I know, but the government does it all the time. They listen to our calls all the time without a court order. But someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order.”
Shortly after returning to the country on Wednesday, El-Rufai was involved in a heated argument with security officers at the Abuja airport. The operatives briefly held him and reportedly seized his international passport before leading him out of the airport. Supporters who came to welcome him were chanting during the incident.
He also claimed that Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani and the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission were part of a plan to abduct him.
“Let me tell you, Kaduna Governor Uba Sani, the NSA and the ICPC chairman have arranged that I get abducted unfailingly today,” he said during the interview.
