Scholar: El-Rufai is threat to national security
A DON, Dr. Akinola Awodeyi-Akinsehinwa, has said former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is a national security threat. He spoke amid political developments surrounding El-Rufai, particularly his dramatic confrontation at
A DON, Dr. Akinola Awodeyi-Akinsehinwa, has said former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is a national security threat.
He spoke amid political developments surrounding El-Rufai, particularly his dramatic confrontation at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, where security operatives reportedly attempted to detain him upon return from abroad, only for supporters to block the action and allow him to leave.
The scholar’s statement underscores concerns over El-Rufai’s actions and public disclosure, including his claim on national television that his associates intercepted and listened to a phone conversation involving National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
In the interview, the former governor alleged that the intercepted call showed Ribadu directing operatives to arrest him, while acknowledging that such interception is illegal, though he justified it by claiming government engages in a similar practice.
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Dr. Awodeyi-Akinsehinwa noted that El-Rufai’s rhetoric and involvement in or admission to intercepting sensitive communications, especially those linked to the nation’s top security official could erode public trust in security institutions, compromise national security protocols, divert focus from terrorism and banditry, and exacerbate political polarisation at a critical juncture in Nigeria’s democratic process.
Government should probe his admission of wire-tapping the NSA’s phone, saying the act is criminal and a violation of laws governing privacy, telecommunications, and national security”
Boasting publicly about unauthorised interception of high-level security communications poses a grave risk to institutional integrity and could embolden threats against state apparatus.
