EFCC Releases El-Rufai, ICPC Immediately Detains Former Governor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday released former Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai after three days of questioning, but he was promptly taken into custody by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, sources have confirmed.

El-Rufai had arrived at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja around 10 am on Monday for interrogation and remained in the commission’s custody until his release on Wednesday evening.

“We have released him today, but he was shortly picked up after he was released by ICPC,” a source at the EFCC told The source on Wednesday night.

Efforts to obtain official confirmation from the ICPC were unsuccessful, as calls to the commission’s spokesman, John Odey, went unanswered. El-Rufai’s lawyer, A. U. Mustapha (SAN), neither confirmed nor denied the development, stating, “It is too late to talk. Let’s talk tomorrow.” The telephone line of his media aide, Muyiwa Adeleye, was unreachable.

Cybercrime Charges Filed

The latest detention follows criminal charges filed against El-Rufai on Monday by the Federal Government before the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging unlawful interception of phone communications belonging to National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.

The three charges, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, were brought under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.

According to the charge sheet, the allegations stem from an interview El-Rufai granted on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on February 13, 2026, in Abuja. During the broadcast, the former governor reportedly claimed that an associate had unlawfully intercepted and shared with him communications from the NSA’s phone.

“The government thinks that they are the only ones who listen to calls. But we also have our ways,” El-Rufai had stated during the interview.

The charges include unlawfully intercepting communications, associating with an individual who committed such interception without reporting them to authorities, and using technical equipment to intercept the NSA’s communications.

Dadiyata Investigation Reopened

Separately, the Department of State Services has reopened investigations into the 2019 disappearance of Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma in Katsina State. Dadiyata was declared missing on August 1, 2019, after gunmen reportedly took him from his residence in Kaduna. His whereabouts remain unknown.

A security source disclosed that the DSS recently seized El-Rufai’s passport at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja to prevent him from travelling abroad.

Investigators are also examining social media posts made by El-Rufai’s sons, Bello and Bashir, following Dadiyata’s disappearance.

“Former governor El-Rufai claimed that until Dadiyata’s disappearance, he did not know anyone by that name. However, social media posts by his sons suggest otherwise,” a source said, adding that Bello and Bashir would be invited to assist with the investigation.

The DSS had been on standby for El-Rufai’s arraignment over both the alleged unlawful interception of the NSA’s communications and the reopened investigation into Dadiyata’s disappearance.