The court replayed El-Rufai’s TV interview when Adeyanju testified against the former governor

The trial of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on charges relating to wiretapping of telephone conversations involving National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, continued on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, and the court replayed a controversial television interview that formed part of the prosecution evidence.

In the hearing before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju appeared as the second prosecution witness in the case filed by the State Security Service (SSS).

Adeyanju told the court that the videotape played during the hearing accurately reflected events from El-Rufai’s Feb. 13 appearance on Arise Television, in which the former governor made statements regarding alleged wiretapping of conversations involving the NSA.

Giving his statement, Adeyanju said public speculation had emerged the previous day stating that security agencies might invite or arrest El-Rufai upon his return from Cairo, Egypt.

According to him, he had publicly advised the former governor to cooperate with any security invitation, and at the time stressed that the matter should not be seen from a political point of view.

He further explained that he and El-Rufai appeared on the same Arise Television program on February 13, although they appeared in separate segments.

“I went to Arise, and El-Rufai was also on the show. My segment appeared after his. During his interview, I listened to him talk about many issues, and I refuted many of the things he said because they were untrue or half-truths,” he said in court.

The witness added that after the event was over, he was invited by the SSS to provide information about what he heard during the interview.

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“I confirmed that El-Rufai said that someone was listening and giving him information. I put it all in written form,” he said.

Following a request from the prosecution team, the court replayed a television interview that had previously been given by the prosecution’s first witness.

After watching the recording in court, Adeyanju emphasized that its contents accurately represented what happened on the February 13 broadcast.

During the hearing, prosecutor Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN) submitted a subpoena compelling Adeyanju to appear in court. The document was accepted as Exhibit G after counsel Paul Erokoro (SAN) stated he had no objection.

Prosecutors also handed over flash drives containing Adeyanju’s own television interviews, along with certificates of compliance. These two items were included as evidence and marked as Exhibits H and H1.

In an interview conducted before the court, Adeyanju argued that if the government had truly intended to detain El-Rufai, the SSS would have acted as soon as he arrived at the airport.

He also referred to a report alleging that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) was probing activities linked to the former governor.

The activist stated that the corruption allegations against El-Rufai were worthy of investigation and said that any criminal proceedings should only be initiated after the completion of such investigations.

In the same interview, Adeyanju described El-Rufai as a “gross violator of human rights” and called his current predicament “karma.”

In cross-examination, Erokoro’s defense asked for clarification on whether Adeyanju actually heard El-Rufai’s statement that he personally tapped telephone conversations.

In response, the witness recalled that El-Rufai said, “We are listening to their call.”

Adeyanju further said, if anyone informs him that telephone conversations have been hacked, he feels obliged to report it because he does not know the means used to obtain the information.

However, he admitted that he did not know the communication methods used by the National Security Advisor or whether the conversations could be overheard by third parties. He also emphasized that his presence in court was solely to fulfill the court summons given to him.

At the end of the trial, Judge Abdulmalik postponed the case until June 23 for the continuation of the trial.

The SSS filed five charges against El-Rufai in February following comments he made during an Arise Television interview, in which he admitted to obtaining information from telephone conversations involving Ribadu that allegedly indicated plans by security officials to arrest him.

El-Rufai was arraigned on April 23, pleaded not guilty to all charges, and was later granted bail of N100 million.