The Department of State Services (DSS) arrested former Kaduna State governor Nasir El‑Rufai on Wednesday evening immediately after his release by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mr El‑Rufai had been held by the EFCC on corruption allegations since Monday.
El‑Rufai was granted bail at about 8pm on Wednesday but was promptly taken into custody by armed operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), who lay in wait for him at the EFCC headquarters, witnesses said.
He was then driven to the SSS headquarters in the Asokoro district of Abuja. It is not clear when he will be released.
The SSS arrest is linked to allegations that he unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu. On Monday the SSS charged him with cyber‑crimes at the Federal High Court in Abuja over the phone‑tapping allegation.
Phone‑interception allegations
The case, filed as FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, followed Mr El‑Rufai’s remarks during a live Arise TV interview on Friday. He said the NSA’s phone had been tapped and that he heard the NSA instruct security operatives to detain him.
He alleged that this instruction prompted an attempted arrest at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday, where he had a heated exchange with security personnel. Witnesses said officials briefly confiscated his international passport before escorting him out amid chants from supporters.
In response to the interview, SSS prosecutors filed cyber‑crime charges against Mr El‑Rufai on Monday. The prosecution alleges he admitted intercepting the NSA’s communications, failed to report others who conducted unlawful interceptions, and compromised public safety and national security by using technical systems to tap the NSA’s phone.
The acts are said to contravene provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024, and the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003. No arraignment date has been set and Mr El‑Rufai has not publicly responded to the charges.
Background
Mr El‑Rufai’s arrest follows a series of rapid developments after his return from Cairo, Egypt. The sequence began last Thursday when security operatives attempted to arrest him at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport shortly after his arrival. Videos circulating online showed a brief confrontation between security personnel and the former governor’s entourage; his international passport was reportedly confiscated during the incident.
Mr El‑Rufai later alleged the attempted arrest was carried out at the instruction of the NSA, through the SSS. Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Friday, he said the NSA’s phone had allegedly been tapped, enabling him to hear orders to detain him.
His lawyer, Ubong Akpan, condemned the attempted arrest as arbitrary and in breach of constitutional rights. He said the EFCC invitation had been delivered to Mr El‑Rufai’s residence while he was abroad, making immediate compliance impractical. He added that his client had formally informed the EFCC of his intent to attend voluntarily on his return at 10am on Monday.
Mr Akpan demanded the immediate return of Mr El‑Rufai’s passport, describing its seizure as an infringement on his dignity, freedom of movement and constitutional rights, and warned that legal action would follow any unlawful detention.
On Monday the SSS filed cyber‑crime charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging unlawful interception of the NSA’s phone communications. The filing came three days after Mr El‑Rufai said in a live Arise TV interview about the airport incident that he had intercepted an NSA phone conversation and heard instructions to detain him.
Mr El‑Rufai has faced growing scrutiny since leaving office, including accusations of diverting N423 billion in public funds. In 2024 the Kaduna State House of Assembly called for investigations into his administration, and he has been summoned by the ICPC for questioning.
He previously supported Bola Tinubu’s emergence as the APC presidential candidate in 2023. Mr Tinubu won the election and was inaugurated in May 2023. The pair later fell out politically after an early attempt to appoint Mr El‑Rufai as a minister did not proceed, and Mr El‑Rufai became a vocal critic of the president.
Mr El‑Rufai has since joined the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), vowing to work with like‑minded politicians to prevent Mr Tinubu’s re‑election in 2027.
