By Eshioromeh Sebastian
Human rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has declared that former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and ex-Attorney General Abubakar Malami are facing the consequences of their actions while in power, describing their current predicaments as divine retribution.
Adeyanju made this assertion on his social media accounts on Tuesday, a day after he testified as a prosecution witness in El-Rufai’s ongoing trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On Monday, Adeyanju appeared before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik as the second prosecution witness in the case instituted by the Department of State Services against El-Rufai over alleged unlawful interception of phone communications belonging to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The case stems from a February 13, 2026, Arise Television interview where El-Rufai allegedly admitted that he and his associates listened to conversations involving the NSA . According to the prosecution, this admission breached Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes Act and Section 27(b) of the same Act.
During his testimony, Adeyanju confirmed he was present at the television station on the same day El-Rufai made the remarks. He told the court that the former governor stated during the interview: “We listened to the conversations of the NSA” .
The court viewed footage of the Arise Television interview, and Adeyanju confirmed the recording accurately reflected what transpired.
The prosecution also tendered a flash drive containing Adeyanju’s own interview from the same day, which was admitted as Exhibits H and H1 .
Adeyanju further revealed that he was later invited by the DSS, where he confirmed to investigators that El-Rufai had stated that someone carried out the phone tapping and passed the information to him .
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Paul Erokoro, SAN, Adeyanju clarified that while he did not hear El-Rufai specifically say he personally hacked the NSA’s phone lines, he maintained that the former governor stated: “We listened to the conversations of the NSA” .
When asked whether he knew how the NSA made calls, Adeyanju replied that such matters were not his concern.
El-Rufai, who served as Kaduna governor from 2015 to 2023, was arraigned on April 23 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He was granted bail in the sum of N100 million .
The former governor had claimed during his television interview that he intercepted a phone conversation revealing instructions for security operatives to arrest him—an allegation he linked to an incident at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on February 12, 2026, after his return from Cairo .
El-Rufai, in a motion challenging his trial, argued that his statement during the television interview did not constitute a confessional statement, describing it as a “casual remark” that cannot be elevated to a judicial confession . However, the court declined to quash the charge and ordered accelerated trial.
In his Tuesday social media post, Adeyanju echoed his earlier statements describing El-Rufai’s situation as “karma” for human rights violations committed during his tenure as governor .
Adeyanju has previously cited several individuals he claimed were targeted during El-Rufai’s tenure, including Professor Chidi Odinkalu, activist Stephen Kefas, and Audu Maikori, noting that their only crime was criticising the former governor .
Speaking earlier in February, Adeyanju had declared: “The oppressors of yesterday cannot suddenly become heroes today. He has not shown any form of remorse for all the human rights violations”.
Discussion about this post