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Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has alleged that the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, is planning to run for the presidency in 2031.
Amaechi claimed that Ribadu is working to set up chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to pave the way for President Bola Tinubu’s victory in 2027.
He made the disclosure while expressing doubt over claims that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, hacked Ribadu’s phone. Amaechi said El-Rufai lacked the capacity to hack Ribadu’s phone.
The comments were made during a phone-in conversation on Eagles Radio and later shared on X by ADC chieftain Dele Momodu.
He said: “I doubt that El-Rufai said he hacked NSA Nuhu Ribadu’s phone. He doesn’t have the capacity to do so. It’s the NSA’s office that is listening to our calls.
“Ribadu is busy arresting everybody. He’s planning double elections. He’s planning for himself in 2031 and also planning for Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
“All he’s doing is setting up parties to fight the ADC. He has his own fake ADC. Just go to court; he has so many ADC cases in court with small boys he has bought cars for.
“The man needs to rest. If he thinks there won’t be proper elections in 2027, he’s wasting his time. He should prepare for his security job.”
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai spent Monday night in the custody of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after hours of interrogation over alleged financial misconduct during his eight-year tenure, as three separate federal agencies simultaneously escalated legal proceedings against him in what his supporters described as political persecution and critics called long-overdue accountability.
El-Rufai arrived at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Monday, February 16, 2026, responding to an invitation reportedly issued in December. Although he presented himself voluntarily, sources within the anti-graft agency confirmed late Monday that he would remain in custody until investigators reached what they described as “advanced stages” of their questioning. EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale confirmed the former governor had honoured the commission’s invitation but declined to comment on the substance of the interrogation or the next steps.
Sources at the EFCC said two simultaneous investigations were under way: one into alleged financial impropriety during his tenure as governor and another examining alleged terrorism financing. The financial probe is rooted in a 2024 report by an ad hoc committee of the Kaduna State House of Assembly that examined loans, contracts, and financial transactions under El-Rufai’s administration between 2015 and 2023. Committee chairman Henry Zacharia alleged that several loans obtained by the state were either misapplied or diverted from their stated purposes. Speaker Yusuf Dahiru Leman subsequently claimed that approximately 423 billion naira had been siphoned from state coffers during the period, leaving Kaduna with what the lawmakers described as unsustainable debt liabilities. The assembly endorsed petitions to both the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
“The commission has been investigating him for about a year now. As a commission, we don’t just rush to invite suspects. Persons accused are always the last; that is after we might have done our investigation to an advanced stage,” a senior EFCC source told reporters.
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While the anti-graft interrogation continued, the Department of State Services filed a three-count criminal charge against El-Rufai before the Federal High Court in Abuja over his alleged involvement in wiretapping the telephone lines of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu. The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026 and dated February 16, 2026, was filed under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024 and the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
The prosecution’s case rests on admissions El-Rufai made four days earlier. Count One alleged that on February 13, 2026, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV’s Prime Time Programme, El-Rufai admitted during the interview that he and his cohorts unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, an offence contrary to Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes Amendment Act 2024. Count Two alleged that during the same interview, he stated that he knew and associated with an individual who unlawfully intercepted Ribadu’s phone communications without reporting that person to relevant security agencies, contrary to Section 27(b) of the Act. Count Three alleged that El-Rufai and others still at large used technical equipment or systems which compromised public safety and national security, contrary to Section 131(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003. No arraignment date had been set as of Monday evening.
The television disclosures that triggered the cybercrime charges were themselves a response to an attempted arrest the previous Thursday.
El-Rufai had refused detention at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by security operatives. In interviews that followed, he alleged that the NSA had orchestrated the attempted detention, revealing that his associates had accessed Ribadu’s telephone communications to learn of the planned operation. “Ribadu made the call, because we listened to their calls,” he said on the Arise TV programme. “The government thinks that they are the only ones who listen to calls. But we also have our ways.” He acknowledged the illegality of the action while arguing that the government routinely conducted similar surveillance without court authorization.
