The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has detailed what transpired between him and some security officials at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Thursday.
He alleged that about 50 operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were deployed to the airport with instructions to abduct and detain him.
El-Rufai made the claim during a televised interview on Arise TV, where he spoke extensively on his recent face-off with federal authorities and security agencies. According to him, the alleged operation was not accidental but carefully planned.
He said he was reliably informed that the DSS operatives were acting based on directives linked to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), adding that the intention was to pick him up discreetly at the airport without any formal arrest warrant or official invitation.
“I was told clearly that about 50 DSS operatives were waiting for me at the Abuja airport, with specific instructions from the ICPC to abduct and detain me,” El-Rufai said during the interview.
The former governor also blamed his ordeals on the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, whom he accused of ordering his arrest.
An attempt by security operatives to arrest the former governor at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday, sparked a heated confrontation between him and the security men.
Some people believed to be El Rufai’s supporters were seen surrounding him apparently to stop his arrest.
El-Rufai said he got to know about Ribadu’s involvement because he heard the NSA, in an intercepted telephone conversation, directing security operatives to detain him.
“The NSA’s call was tapped. They do that to our calls too, and we heard him saying they should arrest me,” El-Rufai said.
Besides, El-Rufai said his successor as Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, and the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) were also part of the conspiracy to abduct him.
“Let me tell you, Kaduna Governor Uba Sani, the NSA and the ICPC chairman have arranged that I get abducted unfailingly today,” he said.
He said separately on X yesterday that the ICPC has invited him for questioning.
“Yesterday (Thursday), after the futile attempt to abduct me, the ICPC delivered a letter to invite me to their office,” he wrote.
He added: “My lawyer has written to confirm that I will be attending the ICPC office on Wednesday, 18 February 2026.”
He confirmed during his television interview that he would, on Monday, honour an invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for questioning.
He said he has “nothing to hide,” in respect of his eight-year tenure as governor.
Responding to another question, El-Rufai said the moves by some United States lawmakers to get former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso sanctioned over alleged links to terrorism in Nigeria were politically motivated.
He said Kwankwaso has nothing to do with terrorism.
El-Rufai argued that if scrutiny was to be applied to political actors over the introduction of Sharia law in northern Nigeria, attention should instead focus on Zamfara State, where it was first implemented under then-governor Ahmed Yerima.
Meanwhile, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi has expressed concern over claims by the former Kaduna Sate governor of tapping the NSA’s phone.
“El-Rufai admitted on a national television that someone tapped the phone of the NSA for him to listen to his conversation. When Charles Aniagolu, the interviewer, interjected that that was an illegal action, El-Rufai agreed to the illegality. By the time he is picked up to produce the person who illegally tapped the NSA’s phone, he would say President Tinubu is a ‘tyrant’ and persecuting him,” Ajayi said on Facebook.