Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai faced mounting legal pressure on multiple fronts Tuesday, as investigators at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission held him for questioning over allegations that N432 billion was mismanaged during his administration — while the Federal Government simultaneously filed criminal charges against him in a separate matter involving the surveillance of a top security official.
El-Rufai arrived at the EFCC’s Abuja headquarters accompanied by hundreds of supporters, but the show of solidarity quickly turned chaotic. Anti-riot operatives discharged teargas to break up clashes between rival groups of protesters gathered outside, sending toxic fumes drifting into the adjacent Federal Medical Centre in Jabi. Pregnant women, children, and other patients scrambled for cover inside the hospital as the smoke permeated the building, leaving many gasping and disoriented.
“Even inside the hospital, everyone was struggling to breathe,” said one pregnant woman attending an antenatal appointment. “My eyes were filled with tears, I was coughing — we were running into each other in panic.”
Inside the EFCC facility, sources confirmed that El-Rufai remained with investigators though it was unclear how long his questioning would last. The probe centers on loans obtained during his 2015–2023 governorship, which a Kaduna State House of Assembly committee alleged were either misused or disbursed without due process. El-Rufai has consistently denied the allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated.
The pressure did not stop there. A team of five prosecutors from the Department of State Services filed a separate three-count charge against the former governor at the Federal High Court in Abuja, stemming from remarks he made during a February 13 television interview. Prosecutors allege that El-Rufai admitted on air that he and associates had unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu — and that he failed to report the crime to security authorities. He now faces potential liability under the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 and the Nigerian Communications Act 2003. No arraignment date has been set.
The charges connect directly to an incident last weekend, when El-Rufai publicly resisted what he described as an attempted “abduction” by DSS operatives at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on his return from Cairo. He claimed the tip-off about a planned detention order had come through someone who had eavesdropped on the NSA’s phone calls — a claim that now forms the basis of the criminal case against him.
Political observers noted that El-Rufai’s escalating confrontation with the current administration appears deliberate. Opposition figure and former presidential spokesman Umar Sani argued that the former governor has strategically exploited the government’s low tolerance for criticism. “El-Rufai has become a one-man riot squad,” Sani said, “and unmistakably the face of the opposition.”
The EFCC had not released an official statement on Tuesday’s events by press time.
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