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By John Azu
A prosecution witness has testified that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai received intercepted conversations of the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu.
At the resumed trial of El Rufai for alleged wiretapping and national security breach before a Federal High Court on Tuesday, the witness said the NSA was interviewed and confirmed that the conversatio. had indeed taken place between him and the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), which the latter also confirmed.
The witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) also testified that investigators invited television anchor Charles Aniagolu, activist-lawyer Deji Adeyanju, and a cameraman, Ugochukwu Agalayana, for questioning as part of the investigation and the anchor confirmed El Rufai’s claim that someone passed on the intercepted communication to him.
The statements were admitted as exhibits C, C1, E and D, in which the witness stated that the El Rufai made an open confession in the Arise TV interview after a 43-minute playback of the video interview.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Paul Erokoro, the witness acknowledged that investigators neither examined any communication devices belonging to the NSA nor obtained IP addresses or carried out forensic analysis relating to the alleged interception.
The witness, however, insisted that such steps became unnecessary after the NSA reportedly confirmed the authenticity of the conversation referenced in the interview.
He also admitted that El-Rufai never expressly stated during the broadcast that he personally carried out the interception, but maintained that the former governor repeatedly stood by the claim that the conversation had been tapped and forwarded to him.
The DSS filed a three-count charge against El Rufai, which alleged that he breached national security during the television interview on February 13.
Meanwhile, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik has fixed June 22 and 23 for more hearing