The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday replayed an interview involving former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as the trial over allegations of phone tapping continued.
Human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, testified before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik as the second prosecution witness in the case filed by the State Security Service.
During his testimony, Adeyanju told the court that the interview accurately reflected events he witnessed during a February 13 programme on Arise Television.
He said the discussion centred on claims made by El-Rufai regarding the alleged interception of a telephone conversation involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
Adeyanju recalled that reports had surfaced a day earlier suggesting that security agencies might arrest or invite El-Rufai following his return from Cairo, Egypt.
According to him, he publicly advised the former governor to cooperate with any invitation from security agencies and maintained that the matter should not be viewed as politically motivated.
He told the court that both he and El-Rufai appeared on the same television programme, although their interviews were aired separately. Adeyanju said he listened to El-Rufai's comments on several issues and disagreed with many of the statements made during the broadcast.
The lawyer further stated that he was later invited by the SSS, where he provided a written statement concerning El-Rufai’s remarks during the interview.
Following a request by the prosecution, the court replayed the television interview that had earlier been presented through the first prosecution witness.
After viewing the recording, Adeyanju confirmed that it accurately reflected what he witnessed on the day of the broadcast.
The prosecution, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Oluwole Aladedoye, also presented a subpoena that summoned Adeyanju to testify. The document was admitted as evidence after defence counsel, Paul Erokoro, did not object.
In addition, the prosecution tendered a flash drive containing Adeyanju’s television interview and a certificate of compliance. Both items were accepted by the court and marked as exhibits.
During cross-examination, Erokoro questioned Adeyanju on whether he directly heard El-Rufai state that he personally tapped a telephone conversation.
Adeyanju responded that El-Rufai had indicated that certain calls were listened to. He added that any claim of a hacked call would warrant a report to the authorities because he did not know how such an act could have been carried out.
The witness also said he had no knowledge of how the National Security Adviser conducts telephone conversations or whether such conversations could be accessed by others. He maintained that his appearance in court was solely because he had been summoned to testify.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter until June 23 for the continuation of the trial.
The SSS filed a five-count charge against El-Rufai in February after he reportedly claimed during a television interview that he had obtained information from a telephone conversation involving Ribadu, which allegedly pointed to plans by security operatives to arrest him.
El-Rufai was arraigned on April 23, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court later granted him bail in the sum of N100 million.
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