The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted in evidence the testimony of a witness of the Department of State Services, Deji Adeyanju, in the ongoing trial of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The former governor is being prosecuted over allegations that he wiretapped the telephone lines of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
According to the case, El-Rufai had in a February interview claimed to have been wiretapping the telephone conversation of the National Security Adviser. The witness, a human rights lawyer, told the court that he appeared for an interview programme on a national station on the 16th of February, the same day El-Rufai made the confession on the same television station.
During the proceedings, the prosecution tendered the subpoena that had been used to summon Adeyanju, which was admitted and marked as Exhibit G. The court also confirmed the recording and the statements allegedly made during the programme that is at the centre of the case.
The prosecution subsequently tendered Adeyanju's own interview, contained in a flash drive alongside a certificate of compliance. Both items were admitted in evidence by the court and marked as Exhibits H and H1, forming part of the materials placed before the judge in the matter.
Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Paul Irokoro, Adeyanju stated that while he did not hear El-Rufai specifically say that he hacked the phone lines of the National Security Adviser, he heard him say that they listened to the conversations of the NSA, in his account of what was said during the interview.
In addition, the prosecution tendered an official gazette, which was admitted without objection from the defence and marked as Exhibit I. The document was added to the growing list of exhibits accepted by the court in the course of the hearing.
After the day's proceedings, the matter was adjourned until the 23rd of June for the continuation of the trial. The adjournment leaves the case to resume on that date, when further evidence and arguments are expected to be presented before the Federal High Court in Abuja.