By Ayomide Otitoju
A lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, who is the second prosecution witness in the trial of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the former governor allegedly admitted during a television interview that “we listened to the conversation of the NSA”.
El-Rufai is being tried over alleged phone tapping of the National Security Adviser’s lines and breach of national security.
Testifying before the court, Adeyanju confirmed under examination by prosecution counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye, that he was familiar with El-Rufai and had previously issued a public statement following reports of a planned arrest of the former governor by security operatives.
The prosecution tendered a subpoena used to summon the witness, which was admitted as Exhibit G, alongside video recordings of the television interview involving El-Rufai. The court also reviewed the footage in which the alleged statements were made.
Adeyanju told the court that he was later invited by the Department of State Services (DSS), where he reiterated what he witnessed during the broadcast, adding that El-Rufai allegedly said during questioning that someone carried out the phone tapping and passed the information to him.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Paul Erokoro, Adeyanju said he did not hear El-Rufai specifically admit to hacking the NSA’s phone lines but maintained that he heard him say, “we listened to the conversation of the NSA”.
He also told the court that he had no knowledge of the technical means used to access communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The prosecution further tendered an official gazette, which was admitted without objection from the defence.
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