The Federal High Court in Abuja continued the trial of Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, this Monday. During the proceedings, Deji Adeyanju, a lawyer and activist appearing as a prosecution witness, provided testimony regarding an Arise Television interview held on February 13. El-Rufai faces a five-count charge for allegedly being involved in the illegal interception of communications belonging to National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
During cross-examination by defense lead Paul Erokoro, SAN, Adeyanju clarified that while he was present at the studio during the interview, he did not hear El-Rufai explicitly claim to have personally hacked the NSA’s phone. Instead, the witness recalled the former governor stating, We listened to the conversations of the NSA. Adeyanju had previously told the Department of State Services that El-Rufai mentioned someone else performed the tapping and shared the details with him.
The court examined video evidence from the television appearance and admitted further documentation into the record. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik has scheduled the trial to resume on Tuesday. El-Rufai, who remains in detention despite being granted bail with strict conditions, continues to argue that his comments were merely casual remarks made during a public discussion and should not be treated as a legal confession.
