BY FRONTLINE REPORTERS
The prosecution in the ongoing trial of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai on Monday opened its case with testimony from a witness of the Department of State Services (DSS), who told the court that the agency began investigating the alleged phone-tapping incident after monitoring an interview El-Rufai granted on Arise News.
El-Rufai is facing a five-count charge bordering on the alleged interception of telephone conversations involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The DSS witness, whose identity was shielded and identified only as “APC” following an earlier court ruling, testified before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik that the agency uncovered El-Rufai’s alleged involvement after watching the televised interview.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Oluwole Aladedoye, the witness said:
“My Lord, the service got information that the defendant would appear on Arise TV Prime Time Show.”
According to him, DSS operatives monitored the programme and later reported to their director that El-Rufai allegedly made a confessional statement during the interview.
“I told them that there was a confessional statement where the defendant said he tapped the conversation of the National Security Adviser,” the witness stated.
He added that the video recording of the interview was transferred to a flash drive and preserved as evidence in the case file.
The prosecution later tendered the flash drive and a certificate of compliance in evidence, which were admitted by the court as Exhibits A and A1 without objection from defence counsel Paul Erokoro.
Following the court’s approval, the video interview was played openly in court.
In the recording, El-Rufai narrated an alleged encounter with DSS operatives at the Abuja airport upon his return from Egypt.
“I came out of the plane and a young man came to me and said, ‘I am SSS and they would want to meet with me in our office,’” he said in the video.
El-Rufai claimed he requested a formal invitation letter before agreeing to accompany the operatives and alleged that several DSS officers later surrounded him.
The former governor further stated that he believed the attempt to detain him was politically motivated.
“They told the SSS to abduct me,” he said, adding that he knew Ribadu allegedly instructed the DSS to arrest him because “someone tapped his phone conversation.”
When the interviewer, Charles Aniagolu, suggested that phone tapping was wrong, El-Rufai replied:
“We listened to their calls, someone tapped the phone conversation and told us that he gave the order.”
He also alleged that the case against him was tied to pressure to support President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid and accused the government of political persecution.
At some point during the proceedings, the audio quality of the video deteriorated and later stopped completely due to technical issues.
Following this, the prosecutor sought an adjournment to produce a clearer version of the recording. The defence did not oppose the application.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned further hearing to May 19.
Earlier in the proceedings, the court granted El-Rufai bail in the sum of N100 million with one surety in like amount.
The court ordered that the surety must reside in either Maitama or Asokoro in Abuja, be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17, and provide relevant financial and tax documents.
Justice Abdulmalik also directed El-Rufai to deposit all valid international passports with the court and report to DSS headquarters every last Friday of the month pending the determination of the case.
The judge warned that failure to comply with the bail conditions would result in automatic revocation of the bail.
In separate rulings, the court approved the prosecution’s request to shield the identities of DSS witnesses, rejected the defence application seeking access to all prosecution evidence, and dismissed an application seeking to quash the amended charge against El-Rufai.
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