EL-RUFAI ADMITTED NSA CONVERSATIONS WERE LISTENED TO, ADEYANJU TELLS COURT

Read Time:1 Minute, 52 Second

By:Tajudeen Aminat

A lawyer and activist, Deji Adeyanju, on Friday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, admitted during a television interview that conversations involving the National Security Adviser had been listened to.

Adeyanju, who appeared as the second prosecution witness in the ongoing trial bordering on alleged phone tapping and breach of national security, gave the testimony while being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye.

During proceedings, Adeyanju confirmed that he knew El-Rufai as a former governor of Kaduna State and recalled issuing a public statement after reports emerged that security operatives were planning to arrest him.

The prosecution tendered the subpoena used to summon the witness, which was admitted by the court and marked as Exhibit G.

The court also viewed the television interview involving El-Rufai, after which Adeyanju identified the recording and confirmed statements allegedly made by the former governor during the programme.

Additionally, the prosecution tendered a flash drive containing Adeyanju’s own interview alongside a certificate of compliance. Both documents were admitted in evidence as Exhibits H and H1.

In his testimony, Adeyanju said he was later invited by the Department of State Services, where investigators requested details of what transpired during the television appearance.

According to him, he informed investigators that he was present when El-Rufai allegedly made the statements and stated that, during questioning in the interview, the former governor indicated that another individual carried out the phone tapping and relayed the information to him.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Paul Erokoro, Adeyanju clarified that he did not hear El-Rufai specifically admit to hacking the phone lines of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

However, he maintained that he heard El-Rufai say: “We listened to the conversation of the NSA.”

When questioned on whether he knew the means through which the NSA made calls and whether he was aware that investigators had not asked which device was allegedly compromised, Adeyanju responded that such matters were outside his knowledge.

Meanwhile, the prosecution tendered an official gazette without objection from the defence. The document was admitted and marked as Exhibit I.

Justice adjourned the matter until June 23 for continuation of trial.