Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has alleged that a top aide to President Bola Tinubu was responsible for the reported attempt to arrest him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Speaking in an interview on Arise Television on Friday, El-Rufai claimed that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, personally ordered security operatives to detain him upon his arrival in the country on Thursday.
The former governor was involved in a heated exchange with security officials shortly after landing in Abuja. Eyewitnesses said operatives briefly restrained him and seized his international passport before he was eventually allowed to leave the airport amid chants from supporters who had gathered to welcome him.
‘The NSA’s Call Was Tapped’
El-Rufai alleged during the interview that he became aware of the plan to arrest him after what he described as an intercepted phone conversation involving the NSA.
“The NSA’s call was tapped. They do that to our calls too, and we heard him saying they should arrest me,” he said.
He did not provide evidence to substantiate the claim, and there has been no official response from Ribadu as of the time of filing this report. The NSA has previously denied similar allegations.
Presidency Reacts
Reacting to the interview, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, criticized El-Rufai’s comments, particularly his admission that the alleged phone interception took place.
“El-Rufai admitted on a national television that someone tapped the phone of the NSA for him to listen to his conversation. When Charles Aniagolu, the interviewer, interjected that that was an illegal action, El-Rufai agreed to the illegality. By the time he is picked up to produce the person who illegally tapped the NSA’s phone, he would say President Tinubu is a ‘tyrant’ and persecuting him,” Ajayi wrote on Facebook.
Further Allegations
El-Rufai also alleged that Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Ribadu and the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) were working in concert against him.
“Let me tell you, Kaduna Governor Uba Sani, the NSA and the ICPC chairman have arranged that I get abducted unfailingly today,” he said.
Neither the Kaduna State Government nor the ICPC has issued an official response to the allegation.
The claims add a new dimension to the ongoing political tension between El-Rufai and some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), following his recent criticisms of the Tinubu administration.
