The family of detained former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has dismissed reports that phone-tapping devices were discovered at his residence during a search conducted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The El-Rufai family, in a statement on Monday, signed by Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, also demanded the arraignment of their father in court if there are charges against him.
The position of the family was made known after the ICPC claimed that it recovered equipment allegedly capable of tapping conversations and sensitive security documents from the Abuja residence of the former Governor.
The commission disclosed this in an affidavit filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in opposition to el-Rufai’s suit alleging violation of his fundamental human rights.
However, the El-Rufai family said the claim of the ICPC is simply a work of fiction and trumped up media war.
The family claimed that what the ICPC found at the residence were simply “old discarded personal mobile phones, some dating back as much as 20 years, storage devices like flash drives and laptops.”
They also accused the anti-graft agency of weaponizing El-Rufai’s silence against him, but warned that every citizen has the right to remain silent, adding that silence is not an act of non-cooperation, but a fundamental human right.
The family also questioned the credibility of ICPC’s operations and vowed to see the case to a valid conclusion.
The full statement titled, RE: ICPC’s PHANTOM PHONE TAPPING EQUIPMENT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MALLAM NASIR AHMAD EL-RUFAI AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO SILENCE: A STATEMENT FROM THE FAMILY OF MALLAM NASIR EL-RUFAI, reads: “The family of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has noted with a mixture of contempt and amusement the recent litany of allegations, falsehoods, and theatrical posturing emanating from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“It is deeply unfortunate that a constitutionally established agency has descended into what can only be described as a circus of chicanery, apparently designed to prosecute a media war rather than adhere to the rule of law. We are compelled to set the record straight and expose the malicious intent behind this orchestrated smear campaign.
1. On the Right to Silence and Non-Cooperation:
“The ICPC has ludicrously attempted to weaponize the silence of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai against him, claiming he “refused to cooperate.” We must educate the Commission on the most basic tenet of Nigerian jurisprudence: The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees every citizen the right to remain silent. This is not an act of non-cooperation; it is a fundamental human right. No law enforcement agency, regardless of its frustration at a failed operation, is entitled to draw any negative inference from a citizen’s decision to exercise this constitutional hermetic seal. That the ICPC believes silence implies guilt is a confession of their own inquisitorial mindset and their disregard for the very laws they are sworn to uphold.
“Our father, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has said in all interactions with law enforcement: “CHARGE ME, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST ME. YOU HAVE HAD MORE THAN 2 YEARS TO INVESTIGATE ME. TAKE ME TO COURT PLEASE.”
“This challenge cannot be met. It is the reason for these lies and obfuscation by ICPC.
2. The Fictitious Phone Tapping Equipment and List of Seized Items
“The ICPC’s press statement presented a list of seized equipment designed to conjure images of espionage and criminality. This list is a work of fiction, for reasons which will soon become known.
a) Endorsement: This list has not been endorsed by Mallam el-Rufai or his legal representatives.
b) Reality: WE WERE PRESENT WHEN THESE ITEMS WERE SEIZED. No equipment other than old discarded personal mobile phones some dating back as much as 20 years, storage devices like flash drives and laptops, which are standard possessions of any 21st-century citizen, were seized from the property. The alleged “sophisticated tapping equipment” and “sensitive security documents” exist only in the fevered imagination of the ICPC and its press team.
3. The Tainted Foundation: A Forged Warrant:
“The entire foundation of this investigation is rotten. The search that purportedly uncovered these phantom items originated from a legally defective warrant. We have credible evidence that the warrant was a forgery, fraudulently procured and presented by a Magistrate who was, bizarrely, purporting to sit in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory. An illegality of this magnitude—a forgery at the very inception of a state-sponsored search—renders everything that follows it inadmissible and void. Our lawyers have challenged this illegitimate warrant in a court of competent jurisdiction. The ICPC is welcome to explain in court how a Magistrate conjured the jurisdiction of a High Court to sign a warrant based on false premises.
4. The ICPC’s Credibility Deficit:
“The ICPC’s statement is a textbook example of projection, the guilty person ascribing his crimes to his victim. It is a document riddled with the very offenses it is meant to combat. We see before us a litany of forgery, uttering of false documents, and the peddling of falsehood that is nothing short of criminal. This level of unprofessional conduct, abuse of office, and sheer chicanery is the hallmark of an organization that has been completely captured and weaponized. It is an organization so bereft of any redeeming feature of credibility that it must now manufacture evidence to justify its existence.
“We will not be tried in the court of public opinion by a discredited agency acting on behalf of political masters. We have instructed our legal team to pursue all available legal remedies to challenge the illegal search, the forged warrant, and the defamatory statements made by the ICPC. We have absolute faith that the Nigerian judiciary will see through this shameful charade and uphold the rights of our family against this executive overreach.
It would not surprise us if the ICPC were to produce something of that nature in furtherance of its descent into infamy. After all a court of law has already lampooned ICPC in another matter, of procuring fake search warrants.”
