The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai before a federal high court in Abuja on a five-count amended charge of allegedly intercepting a telephone conversation involving National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
At the commencement of proceedings on Thursday, the prosecution informed the court that the charge had been expanded from three to five counts, following which presiding Judge Joyce Abdulmalik struck out the earlier charge. El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to the amended counts.
After the plea, DSS counsel Oluwole Aladeloye applied for trial dates. His counterpart, Oluwole Iyamu, objected, informing the court that el-Rufai had been held in the custody of multiple security agencies and that he needed time to consult with his client.
Iyamu also told the court that a bail application had been filed on February 17 and that a further affidavit was recently filed in support of it. Justice Abdulmalik, however, said the further affidavit was not in her docket and admonished the defence counsel to carry out his due diligence in filing processes rather than engage in what she described as Nollywood theatrics involving camera personnel in her courtroom. Iyamu denied inviting the camera crew.
The judge subsequently stood down the matter to allow the issue of the missing affidavit to be resolved.
The charges stem from remarks el-Rufai made in February during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme, in which he claimed that Ribadu’s phone had been tapped, allowing him access to a conversation in which the NSA purportedly ordered his arrest.
“He made the call because we listened to their calls. The government thinks they are the only ones that listen to calls but we also have our ways,” el-Rufai had said, adding that “someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order.”
