{"id":125672,"date":"2026-02-16T20:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=125672"},"modified":"2026-02-16T20:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:09:14","slug":"fg-charged-el-rufai-for-unlawful-interception-of-nsas-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/fg-charged-el-rufai-for-unlawful-interception-of-nsas-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"FG Charged El-Rufai for Unlawful Interception of NSA&#8217;s Communications"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Oscar Okhifo, Abuja<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai was on Monday charged by the Federal Government for allegedly intercepting the phone communications of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, following his reported admission during a televised interview.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The charges arose after\u00a0 El-Rufai was confronted by security officials upon his arrival on Egypt Air flight MS877 from Cairo on Thursday, February 12, 2026.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The case, marked FHC\/ABJ\/CR\/99\/2026, was filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to El-Rufai\u2019s media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), the former governor refused to accompany the officials without a formal invitation.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0Adekeye added that security operatives seized El-Rufai\u2019s international passport from an aide during the encounter.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The charges, dated February 16, 2026, stem from statements El-Rufai reportedly made during a television appearance on Arise TV\u2019s Prime Time Programme in Abuja on February 13, 2026.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the interview, the 65-year-old former governor allegedly admitted that he and others unlawfully intercepted the NSA\u2019s phone communications.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Count One, El-Rufai was accused of admitting on television that he and his associates unlawfully intercepted the NSA\u2019s phone communications, an offence contrary to Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Count Two, the ex- governor was further accused of acknowledging that he knew and was associated with a person who unlawfully intercepted the NSA\u2019s phone communications but failed to report the individual to the relevant security agencies, an offence under Section 27(b) of the same Act.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Count Three, El-Rufai and others, still at large were alleged to have used technical equipment or systems in 2026 to compromise public safety and national security by unlawfully intercepting the NSA\u2019s phone communications.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The prosecution claimed that the act, reportedly admitted during the TV interview, instilled \u201creasonable apprehension of insecurity among Nigerians,\u201d contrary to Section 131(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He has not publicly responded to the charges, and the Federal High Court has yet to schedule the first hearing.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The case underscores the Nigerian government\u2019s enforcement of cybercrime and national security laws, particularly regarding unlawful surveillance or interception of communications, and could have far-reaching implications for high-profile political figures.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar Okhifo, Abuja Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai was on Monday charged by the Federal Government for allegedly intercepting the phone communications of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, following&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FG Charged El-Rufai for Unlawful Interception of NSA&#039;s Communications - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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