Table turned completely against the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, hours after being held in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) custody over alleged mismanagement of N423 billion belonging to the Kaduna State Government, with the ex-minister becoming sober and now complying with the anti-graft agency’s directives to possibly regain freedom.
El-Rufai was said to have danced to the EFCC terms after realising that it was not business as usual at the anti-corruption agency’s headquarters, as all efforts to get them off his neck through his friends and political associates had proved abortive.
Aside from that, the former governor has also discovered that his battle was not against the anti-graft agency but the millions of Kaduna residents who lay claim to the N423 billion, which the state lawmakers found was allegedly mismanaged under his administration.
The former minister, according to EFCC officials, has discovered that his lack of cooperation with the investigators, not supplying the information requested, would elongate the investigation and his days inside the anti-graft agency’s custody.
As gathered, El-Rufai, who was detained by the anti-corruption agency barely three days after the Department of State Services (DSS) seized his passport at the Abuja airport, has started complying with the request of the EFCC, which prompted the agency to grant his request to allow his family supply his food while in their custody.
From the former governor’s response, it was learnt that more people, particularly members of his family and aides, may also be prosecuted over their involvement in the alleged mismanaged funds.
A senior staff member of the agency, who spoke on anonymity on Wednesday to The Guild, noted that the attitude of the former governor has suddenly changed and has become friendly to the officers investigating the petition against him.
According to him, we do not have any issue with him. It is the people of Kaduna state who have grudges with him, considering that the funds linked to him were there, and they wanted to know the whereabouts.
Another officer, who also corroborated his colleague, noted that they were surprised that El-Rufai suddenly changed and responded to questions from investigators, which was not his style before.
He added that, unlike hours after his arrival, when he was not responding to questions from the investigators, the former minister had started complying with their terms, believing that he could be granted administrative bail.
Contrary to reports that El-Rufai had been granted administrative bail by EFCC, he stressed that the reports were untrue, saying the former governor is still in our custody, responding to questions on the alleged public funds mismanagement perpetrated during his tenure.
Efforts by the counsel to the former governor to secure his bail, sources said, have proven abortive, following the anti-graft agency’s decision to ensure the ex-minister is arraigned before court on conclusion of its investigations on financial misconduct while serving as the governor of Kaduna state.
As gathered, El-Rufai, through his lawyers, was requesting administrative bail, which he has been unable to secure, considering the circumstances surrounding the fraud allegation made against him in the report submitted by the Kano State House of Assembly.
A senior female EFCC official, who did not want his name in public, stressed that the agency planned to arraign him before the court, where he is expected to prove his innocence when investigations are completed.
She noted that the agency aims to continue holding him pending the conclusion of the investigation into the massive fraud allegation against his administration.
Meanwhile, the legal woes of the former governor deepened after the DSS filed charges against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging that El-Rufai unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The charges stem from an interview El-Rufai granted on a popular television show where he allegedly made incriminating admissions about intercepting the NSA’s communications.
Count one of the charge sheet, marked FHC/CR/99/2026, alleges that the former governor violated Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, by admitting during the television interview that he and his cohorts unlawfully intercepted Ribadu’s phone communications.
The charge sheet further alleges in count two that El-Rufai admitted to knowing and relating with individuals who allegedly intercepted the NSA’s communications but failed to report them to security agencies, an offence under Section 27(b) of the same Act.
Count three accuses El-Rufai and “others still at large” of using technical systems that allegedly compromised public safety and national security by unlawfully intercepting the NSA’s phone communications, contrary to Section 131(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.
