Judge rules on SSS lawyer’s complaint of El-Rufai family’s alleged inciteful conduct

SSS' lawyer told the judge overseeing Mr El-Rufai's phone tapping trial that members of the former governor's family were inciting the public against the judiciary.

Judge Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, waved aside a complaint by the State Security Service (SSS) accusing the family of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of inciting public opinion against the judiciary regarding his detention and bail conditions.

SSS’ lawyer, Oluwole Aladedoye, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made the allegation as Mr El-Rufai’s phone tapping trial resumed before Judge Abdulmalik on Tuesday.

Mr Aladedoye told the court that the former governor’s relatives had repeatedly used social media and press engagement to portray the prosecution and security agencies as persecuting the defendant.

He cited an incident on 15 May where one of Mr El-Rufai’s wives allegedly arrived at the ICPC’s facility with cameramen and began livestreaming, claiming her husband was being denied food and access to family members.

The senior lawyer further alleged that a popular politician also published claims, suggesting Mr El-Rufai could be harmed in custody, forcing security operatives to move him to SSS custody to avoid further controversy.

According to the prosecution, the situation escalated when members of the defendant’s family, including two wives and a son, reportedly went to the SSS headquarters with journalists and publicly criticised the court’s bail conditions.

Mr Aladedoye argued that instead of pursuing their grievances through legal channels, the family resorted to media campaigns capable of undermining public confidence in the judiciary.

He, therefore, urged the court to caution the defendant and his family against further public attacks, insisting that the matter before the court was a criminal prosecution and not a political persecution.

Responding, defence counsel, E. E. Ekere, said he was unaware of the allegations raised by the prosecution.

Mr Ekere submitted that Mr El-Rufai should not be held responsible for comments made outside the courtroom.

He, however, said that the defence team would advise the ex-govenor’s family members and sympathisers to exercise restraint.

Reacting, the judge, Ms Abdulmalik, said she paid no attention to social media narratives.

The judge, who stated that issues circulating online should remain outside courtroom proceedings, directed that the trial should continue.

PREMIUM TIMES reported on Monday that members of Mr El-Rufai’s family, led by his eldest wife, Asiya El-Rufai, protested at the SSS headquarters in Abuja over his continued detention and alleged breach of court orders.

They were joined by the senator representing Kaduna Central, Lawal Adamu, and other supporters who demanded the immediate return of Mr El-Rufai to the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

First prosecution witness continues testimony

The prosecution counsel then called the first prosecution witness, codenamed APC for security reasons, to continue giving evidence from where he stopped on Monday.

Mr Aladedoye then tendered a silver flash drive and a certificate of compliance through the witness. These were admitted as Exhibits B and B1 respectively.

The judge directed that the video recording of the interview granted by Mr El-Rufai, which is saved on the flash drive, be played in the open court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former governor is being prosecuted over alleged breach of national security.

Mr El-Rufai, who was arraigned on April 23 for allegedly intercepting the phone conversations of the telephone line of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, pleaded not guilty to the five-count further amended charge.

On Monday, APC took the court through how the SSS uncovered Mr El-Rufai’s alleged involvement in the tapping of Mr Ribadu’s phone call. The video clip of a television interview where Mr El-Rufai confessed to listening to Mr Ribadu’s intercepted phone call was played during Monday’s proceedings.

The witness, codenamed APC and shielded from public view during proceedings, for security reasons, said SSS launched an investigation after monitoring an interview he granted on an Arise Television’s live programme in February.

After the exhibits were admitted, the Prosecution applied that the video of the interview be played in the open court.

Mr El-Rufai, dressed in a blue agbada and seated in the dock, watched the interview alongside others during the proceedings.

The video showed Mr El-Rufai speaking with Arise TV anchor Charles Aniagolu.

In the video, When Mr Aniagolu asked about the alleged incident at the airport, Mr El-Rufai narrated what happened.

“I came out of the plane and a young man came to me and said, ‘I am DSS and they would want to meet with me in our office.’ I asked him for a letter of invitation, and he said their boss had it in the office. I said okay,” he said in the video.

“As I was going, I saw more people coming and surrounding me. As I moved forward, two officers came again and asked me to go to their office.”

In the video, Mr El-Rufai said he told the officers that if he did not see a letter of invitation, he would not follow them, but the officers insisted. “I told them that even the president cannot tell me what to do,” he said.

Mr El-Rufai also said before a passport is stamped, SSS operatives must ssee it. “But the DSS operative who stamped my passport did not say anything. I said to myself that if there was any issue, the SSS official would not have stamped my passport,” he said.

“After that, they continued following me and about 50 DSS….tried to arrest me, but the people who came to receive me at the airport said they would not allow them to take me.”

He said the operatives later demanded to see his passport, but one of his aides collected it from him and the officers snatched it from his aide.

Mr El-Rufai described the use of security agencies against him as troubling.

“ EFCC had invited me before I travelled and I told them that I would return,” he said, adding that he knew Mr
Ribadu instructed SSS to arrest him because someone tapped his phone conversation.

Mr Aniagolu told him that phone tapping was wrong, but Mr El-Rufai insisted that “we listened to their call, someone tapped the phone conversation and told us that he gave the order.”

“The National Security Adviser told the SSS that I must be abducted today. When you try to take a person without a valid order, it is not an arrest, it is an abduction,” he said.

Mr Aniagolu suggested that the officers migjt have been trying to compel him to honour an invitation. However, Mr El-Rufai replied in the video that there was no law requiring an invitation to be honoured the same day.

Continuing in the video, Mr El-Rufai said he had 16 years of public service and had never taken a bribe. “I have told Nigerians to come forward and prove me wrong,” he said.

Mr El-Rufai also alleged in the interview that his prosecution was politically motivated and orchestrated by the federal government through his successor. He claimed investigators had interrogated several persons without finding evidence against him and accused the administration of becoming “desperate.”

As Mr El-Rufai watched the video with rapt attention in court, he occasionally raised his head and at one point adjusted his agbada.

Judge Abdulmalik also followed the video closely.

At another point in the interview, Mr El-Rufai said “you do not investigate people by abducting them” in a “civilised country,” adding that the case against him was linked to pressure on him to support President Bola Tinubu’s second term bid.

He also said he was not afraid of scrutiny because he had documentation of his activities in office.

As the video continued to play, Mr El-Rufai at some points relaxed in the dock, shaking his head.

The video later stopped due to technical issues. Following the interruption, the prosecution lawyer applied for an adjournment to produce a clearer version of the recording.

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter until Tuesday for continuation of trial.

Mr El-Rufai is an ally turned critic of President Bola Tinubu. He backed Mr Tinubu, then the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to win the 2023 presidential election. At some point during the presidential campaign, Mr Tinubu publicly persuaded Mr El-Rufai, then outgoing governor of Kaduna State, to forgo his plan to retire into private life and take up roles in his government if he won the presidential poll.

The former allies parted ways after a botched attempt by President Tinubu to appoint Mr El-Rufai minister, with the Senate refusing to clear him citing security reasons.

Mr El-Rufai is facing a series of cases in Kaduna, which stemmed from his activities as governor.

One of the judges overseeing his trial in Kaduna denied him bail last month and ordered him to remain in the custody of the prosecution agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). Until the judge reverses the ruling or a higher court sets it aside, Mr El-Rufai will remain in detention even if other judges overseeing his other trials grant him bail.

(NAN)