The Federal Government has filed a three-count charge against former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai over the alleged unlawful interception of phone communications belonging to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
Court documents marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026 and dated February 16, 2026, were filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja by the Department of State Services.
The charges stem from an interview El-Rufai granted on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on February 13, 2026, where he claimed that someone tapped Ribadu’s phone and that he listened to the NSA allegedly instructing security operatives to arrest him .
“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,” El-Rufai said during the interview .
The three counts against the former governor are as follows :
Count one alleges that El-Rufai, while appearing on the programme, “did admit during the interview that you and your cohorts unlawfully intercepted the Phone Communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu,” an offence contrary to Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
Count two claims that the former governor stated during the same interview that he knows and relates with individuals who unlawfully intercepted the NSA’s communications, but failed to report them to relevant security agencies, an offence under Section 27(b) of the same act.
Count three accuses El-Rufai and others still at large of using “technical equipment or systems which compromised public safety, national security and instilling reasonable apprehension of insecurity among Nigerians” by unlawfully intercepting the NSA’s phone communications, contrary to Section 131(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.
The charge sheet lists Ernest O.M., Owan O.M., U.M. Bulla, C.S. Eze (PhD), and E.G. Orubor as counsel for the prosecution, acting on behalf of the DSS .
Following El-Rufai’s interview, presidential aides reacted strongly. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, described the remarks as a “confession” and called for investigation . Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant on Media, wrote on X, “El-rufai admitted on national television that someone tapped the phone of the NSA for him to listen to his conversation. When the interviewer interjected that that was an illegal action, el-Rufai agreed to the illegality” .
A date for El-Rufai’s arraignment has not yet been fixed . The former governor has not publicly responded to the charges as of the time of filing this report .
This development comes amid heightened political tension between El-Rufai, a critic of President Bola Tinubu’s administration who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress to the African Democratic Congress, and the Federal Government .
