Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai allegedly admitted during a television interview that his administration listened to conversations involving the National Security Adviser, lawyer Deji Adeyanju told the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Adeyanju, the second prosecution witness in El-Rufai’s trial over alleged illegal phone tapping and breach of national security, made the claim while giving evidence before the court.
Led by prosecution counsel Oluwole Aladedoye, the lawyer said he knew El-Rufai as Kaduna’s former governor and recalled issuing a public statement after reports emerged that security operatives planned to arrest him.
The prosecution tendered the subpoena used to summon Adeyanju, which the court admitted as Exhibit G. The court also viewed the television interview in question, after which Adeyanju confirmed both the recording and the statements allegedly made by El-Rufai.
The prosecution further submitted Adeyanju’s own interview on a flash drive, alongside a certificate of compliance. The court admitted them as Exhibits H and H1.
Adeyanju told the court that he was later invited by the Department of State Services, where he recounted the events surrounding the television interview.
He said he informed investigators that he was present when El-Rufai made the comments on air and that, during the interview, the former governor stated that someone intercepted the NSA’s conversations and passed the information to him.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Paul Erokoro, Adeyanju clarified that he did not hear El-Rufai say he personally hacked the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu’s, phone lines.
However, he maintained that he heard the former governor say, “we listened to the conversation of the NSA.”
When asked whether he knew the communication devices used by the NSA or if he was aware that DSS investigators did not ask which device had allegedly been compromised, Adeyanju replied that those issues were not his concern.
The prosecution also tendered an official gazette, which was admitted without objection from the defence and marked as Exhibit I.
Justice adjourned the case until June 23 for the continuation of the trial.