The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has called for a comprehensive investigation into claims of wire-tapping made by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, during a televised interview.
Onanuga made the demand in a post on X on Friday, responding to remarks by El-Rufai on ARISE TV’s Prime Time programme, where the former governor alleged that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, ordered his arrest.
El-Rufai claimed that security operatives attempted to detain him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday. According to him, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) enlisted the Department of State Services (DSS) to carry out the operation.
“We found out that it was the ICPC that procured the DSS to abduct me and then hand me over to them,” El-Rufai said during the interview.
He further alleged that the anti-graft agency had become a “personal tool” of the National Security Adviser, insisting that Ribadu personally ordered that he be taken into custody.
When pressed on how he arrived at that conclusion, El-Rufai said, “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.”
Reacting to the statement, Onanuga described the remarks as a public admission of illegal wire-tapping and urged law enforcement authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly.
“El-Rufai confesses to wire-tapping Nigeria’s NSA on TV,” Onanuga wrote.
“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.”
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju dismissed the controversy as political drama, describing the reported attempt to arrest the former governor as “karma.”
Adeyanju said he was not persuaded that there was any concrete plan to detain El-Rufai, noting that Nigeria’s legal framework clearly outlines procedures for lawful arrest.
According to him, arrests must either be backed by a valid court warrant or justified by probable cause under existing laws. He added that if authorities genuinely intended to arrest the former governor, there are established legal mechanisms available to do so.
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