DSS Witness: El-Rufai Admitted to Wiretapping NSA’s Phone

The trial of former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, continues on Monday with the Department of State Services (DSS) calling its second witness.

The witness, human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he appeared on an Arise Television programme on February 13, 2026 — the same day El-Rufai allegedly admitted, during an interview on the same station, that “we listened to the conversations of the NSA,” referring to National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye, Adeyanju said he was later invited by the DSS to give a statement on what he witnessed. Under cross-examination by El-Rufai’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro, SAN, Adeyanju maintained he did not hear El-Rufai explicitly say he hacked Ribadu’s phone, only that he heard him say his associates “listened to the conversations of the NSA.”
El-Rufai is facing an amended five-count charge over the alleged unlawful interception of the NSA’s phone communications, in violation of the Cybercrimes Act and the Nigerian Communications Act. He was previously granted N100 million bail with stringent conditions. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik has adjourned the matter to June 23 for continuation of trial.