THE State Security Services (SSS) has arraigned former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, before a Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations that he unlawfully accessed the telephone conversations of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
According to reports, El-rufai is facing an amended five-count charge brought by the SSS, which accuses him of offences bordering on unlawful interception of communications and breaches of national security laws.
The charges were amended from three-count charge to five counts by the prosecutor at the resumed hearing on Thursday, April 23.
The presiding judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, consequently struck out the earlier charge and proceeded with the amended version.
El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to all five counts.
The SSS counsel, Oluwole Aladeloye, subsequently asked the court to fix a date for trial.
However, defence counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, objected, arguing that he needed time to properly confer with his client, whom he said had been in the custody of multiple security agencies.
Iyamu also told the court that a bail application had been filed on February 17, along with a further affidavit recently submitted to support it.
But the presiding judge noted that the affidavit was not in her court file. She criticised what she described as procedural lapses, saying counsel ought to have ensured proper filing rather than “engaging in Nollywood theatrics” involving camera operators in court.
The judge subsequently stood down the matter to allow issues surrounding the missing affidavit to be resolved.
Earlier bail rejection and stalled arraignment
The latest proceedings followed earlier developments in the case. The Federal Government had on February 16, 2026, filed a three count charges against the accused.
The charges bordered on alleged unlawful interception of Ribadu’s phone.
On February 25, the Federal High Court in Abuja declined to hear El-Rufai’s bail application, ruling that it was premature since he had not yet been properly arraigned.
In that ruling, Abdulmalik held that bail could only be considered after formal arraignment. He consequently adjourned the matter to April 23.
The court session was stalled at the time because the SSS was unable to produce El-Rufai, who was said to be in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Backstory
The charges followed El-Rufai’s public claim that he knew about his attempted arrest through tapping of Ribadu’s phone, stressing that the NSA ordered his arrest upon arrival in Nigeria.
Speaking on Arise TV on February 13, the former governor alleged that security operatives attempted to detain him at the airport at the instance of anti-corruption authorities, describing the move as an abduction attempt.
“Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody,” he said.
When asked how he became aware of the alleged directive, El-Rufai added: “The government thinks that they’re the only ones that listen to calls… Someone tapped his phone.”
He acknowledged that tapping phone calls without court authorisation was illegal but argued that state agencies routinely monitor communications without judicial approval.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M