EFCC Nabs El-Rufai: N432bn Claims, Tapped Phones, and a Vanished Lecturer
By: Abudu Olalekan
Flickering ceiling lamps. Monday deep into Tuesday now. Plastic seats sticking to skin at EFCC base in Abuja. Ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai planted there – back straight, eyes flat. Not fighting. Simply worn down. Interrogation dragged through hours. About four hundred thirty two billion naira. The figure hangs like smoke. Too big to grab.
Monday morning brought him through the door. Exactly ten when he arrived. The EFCC summons had come, so he showed up without delay. He understood the weight of it, at least partly. Though perhaps not just how deep it went. People within the agency would say nothing. Just one broke silence, speaking slow: “Tracking this for twelve months now. Never reach out before everything’s locked down.” Questions flew about the Kadura Assembly’s 2024 paperwork. Borrowed funds. Agreements signed. What they owe. That number – N423 billion? Loud came Speaker Leman’s shout a year back – “Siphoned!” Down went Kaduna into chaos. Charges were suggested by lawmakers. Misuse of power made the list. So did moving dirty money. All the usual stuff turned up. Petitions flew off to both EFCC and ICPC.
Everything was flat-out wrong, El-Rufai claimed. “This is just politics,” he snapped at journalists. Schools went up because of borrowed money, also clinics, plus highways – he made that clear. Yet the EFCC stayed unconvinced. Around midnight? A leak hit hard: “Still inside. No exit yet.” Word came through spokesman Oyewale – he showed up – but then clammed up. The usual EFCC play.
Out of nowhere, phones became a problem. Ribadu’s line was at the center. Days later, on February 13, El-Rufai appeared on Arise Television. What slipped out stunned everyone. He claimed they had tapped into Ribadu’s conversations. That he heard plans for his own detention unfold through the wiretap. Spoke those words straight into the camera. The federal authorities reacted fast. Criminal filings followed without delay. Court docket FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026 holds the record. Snooping on national security messages breaks the law flatly. Under clause twelve. Violation twenty-seven also applies. Another breach under one thirty-one. Maximum penalty stretches ten years. What did El-Rufai say? He claimed phone tapping happens everywhere, that governments do it constantly. Yet members of Ribadu’s group reacted sharply, labeling the act a serious threat to safety. Meanwhile, Onanuga – someone close to Tinubu – shot back fast, saying such talk shifts focus from problems in Kaduna
One moment – Dadiyata. That name ring a bell? Taught at the university. Gone since August 2019. Men with guns pulled him from his house in Kadune. Nobody has seen him since. Now, quietly, the DSS has started looking again. Took El-Rufai’s travel papers right at the airport in Abuja. “Letting him slip away isn’t an option,” someone close said. Fear is what drives him now. Here’s something else – those two boys of his, Bello and Bashir? Footage on social platforms suggests they were familiar with Dadiyata. Yet El-Rufai said he didn’t know her. Suspicious? The DSS appears to think that way. Those young men will face questioning soon. “She caused trouble for their plans,” whispered someone close. That stings.
Out on the streets, anger spilled into motion. Abuja first, then Kaduna followed close behind. Crowds pushed toward EFCC offices like water finding cracks. Voices rose under one chant – “Answer the charges!” Signs held high said simply: “Not above the law.” The agency blocked entry without delay. Yet later, through Oyewale’s words came a quiet nod – protest has its place, so long as rules hold firm
Kaduna saw a rush of activists into the state assembly. Updates were what they came for. Speaker Leman didn’t budge – his words sharp, “The evidence stands. Laws will follow for those responsible.” Yet relatives of the lost stayed restless. The death of Dr. Maiwada Galadima. The vanishing of Dadiyata. For these wounds, answers feel too slow. Out stepped Odinkalu, once leading human rights efforts – “Justice matters,” he said flatly. “Not media noise.”
Facing pushback? The opposition seems split. From the LP, Nenadi Usman points out the FG accused him before listening – looks too fast. Over at NNPP, Ladipo Johnson hints that 2027 will bring its own political storm. Yet Tinubu speaks up for Ribadu, calling him truthful and fearless. Says he is one of us, rooted here. On another front, El-Rufai brings up a note on thallium sulphate. ONSA says they never bought such stuff. Sends the matter straight to DSS. Strange turn.
Out of nowhere, El-Rufai stood at the top. Once a minister. Shaped laws. Today? Locked up. Agents keep watch. Crowds shout beyond walls. What comes next has vanished. “One wrong move,” said someone close to diplomats, “then it snaps.”.
What started as whispers now echoes beyond wallets and devices. Power shapes who answers questions, who walks away untouched. Once, El-Rufai stood high, shielded by rank and reach. Light from EFCC probes changed that scene – now even top men feel heat. Four hundred thirty-two billion naira? Unverified. Yet clear as audio is his nod to the device. Dadiyata remains missing. Eyes across Nigeria stay fixed on benches where rulings brew – not sure if what comes will be fairness… or settling scores.
Here’s what stands out. Not every Monday hits like this one did. This time, power wobbled. As for the sidewalks? Full of noise.
