Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday arraigned former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai over allegations that he unlawfully accessed a telephone conversation involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The case is being heard before a federal high court in Abuja, where the prosecution filed an amended five-count charge against the former governor. At the start of proceedings, the prosecuting counsel informed the court that the original three-count charge had been expanded to five counts.
Presiding judge Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently struck out the earlier charges following the amendment.
El-Rufai entered a plea of not guilty to all five counts.
The charges stem from remarks he made in February during an appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time program, where he claimed that “someone wiretapped” Ribadu’s phone. According to him, the alleged interception enabled him to hear the NSA directing security operatives to carry out his arrest.
