Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has alleged that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, personally ordered operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to detain him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
El-Rufai made the claim during an interview on Arise Television on Friday night while recounting his encounter with security operatives at the airport.
According to him, Ribadu gave the directive for his detention — a claim he said was confirmed through information obtained from a source who allegedly tapped the NSA’s phone.
“Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody yesterday. (I know) he made the call because we listen to their calls; the government thinks they’re the only ones that listen to calls, but we also have our ways. He made the call; he gave the order. Someone tapped his phone and told me,” El-Rufai said.
When the programme’s presenter pointed out that tapping the NSA’s phone would be illegal, El-Rufai responded:
“I know, but the government does it all the time; they listen to our calls all the time without court order. But someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order.”
Clarification on EFCC, ICPC
El-Rufai clarified that contrary to earlier statements issued by his lawyer, the attempted detention was not initiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“I want to say it very clearly that it wasn’t the EFCC. It was the DSS; but the DSS were procured to abduct me by the ICPC that has never communicated with me ever,” he said.
He explained that while he was on annual vacation abroad, the EFCC had written inviting him for questioning over certain issues, and his lawyers had responded that he would honour the invitation upon his return.
“The EFCC had written to me while I was away… and I replied through my lawyers that I was not in the country,” he stated.
He further alleged that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had enlisted the DSS in an attempt to detain him and described the agency’s actions as part of what he termed a growing pattern.
“This is a modus operandi of the ICPC that increasingly has become a personal tool of Nuhu Ribadu,” he alleged.
Despite his allegations, El-Rufai commended the EFCC, describing the commission as more professional, and pledged to honour its invitation on Monday, February 16.
ICPC Invitation
El-Rufai also disclosed that the ICPC delivered a letter to his residence around 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, formally inviting him for questioning on Friday, February 13.
“Yesterday, around 5:00 p.m., the ICPC finally did the right thing — not the DSS that tried to abduct me — by bringing a letter to my house to say, ‘we want to see you by Friday the 13th.’ But my lawyer wrote back to them that I wasn’t idle, and I’ll honour EFCC’s invitation on Monday and go to the ICPC either on Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said.
The former governor had reportedly resisted the attempted detention at the airport after DSS operatives accosted him and seized his passport.
As of the time of filing this report, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the DSS, ICPC, and EFCC had not issued official responses to El-Rufai’s claims.
