Ribadu ordered my airport arrest, someone tapped his phone – El-Rufai
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has accused the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, of ordering his attempted airport arrest, claiming the directive was uncovered after someone allegedly tapped Ribadu’s phone.
Western Post reported on Thursday that El-Rufai, through his lawyers, accused operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of attempting to arrest him using agents of the Department of State Services (DSS), despite prior communication confirming his readiness to comply with any summons.
His lawyer, Ubong Esop Akpan, said the DSS tried to detain the former governor upon his arrival from Cairo at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The lawyer, therefore, argued that the move was “a flagrant violation of constitutional rights” and accused authorities of executive overreach and disregard for due process.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Friday, El-Rufai said his legal team initially believed the arrest attempt was by the EFCC. “My lawyers thought it was the EFCC, but we later discovered that it was the ICPC that procured the DSS to abduct me and hand me over to them. This is a modus operandi of the ICPC increasingly associated with Nuhu Ribadu,” he stated.
El-Rufai further alleged that Ribadu personally “made the call that I must be in custody,” adding that the order was revealed when “someone tapped his phone and gave us the hint that he made the order.”
He noted that while the EFCC had acted professionally in the matter, the ICPC sent a letter to his residence on Thursday requesting a meeting on Friday. His lawyer responded, assuring compliance but proposing a later schedule. “We will go to the EFCC on Monday and to the ICPC on Tuesday or Wednesday,” El-Rufai said.
