Alleged wire-tapping: El-Rufai should be investigated, punished — Onanuga
Calls for Investigation into El-Rufai’s Wire-Tapping Claims
By Bayo Wahab
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, is urging law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations of wire-tapping made by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Onanuga’s call came in response to comments El-Rufai made during an interview on ARISE TV Prime Time. In that interview, El-Rufai claimed that National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu ordered his arrest following a confrontation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Thursday.
El-Rufai further alleged that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) collaborated with the Department of State Services (DSS) in the purported operation. “We found out that it was the ICPC that procured the DSS to abduct me and then hand me over to them,” he stated. He claimed that Ribadu had direct involvement, stating, “Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody yesterday.”
When questioned about how he was aware of Ribadu’s involvement, El-Rufai responded, “He made the call because we listened to their calls. The government thinks that they are the only ones that listen to calls. But we also have our ways.”
Onanuga reacted by asserting that El-Rufai’s remarks represent an admission of illegal wire-tapping and warrant serious scrutiny by authorities. He posted on social media, “El-Rufai confesses to wire-tapping Nigeria’s NSA on TV. Does it mean that he and his collaborators have wire-tapping facilities? This should be thoroughly investigated, and punishment meted out. El-Rufai is not too big to face the wrath of the law.”
In related developments, human rights lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju called the attempt to arrest El-Rufai “karma” and expressed skepticism about the existence of a legitimate plan to detain him. Adeyanju noted that Nigerian law requires a court-issued warrant or probable cause for an arrest, asserting that if authorities genuinely intended to apprehend El-Rufai, they would have followed established legal protocols.
