The Department of State Services (DSS) arrested former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Wednesday night, February 18, 2026, moments after he was granted bail and released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
El-Rufai had been in EFCC custody since Monday over allegations of corruption and financial impropriety.
Witnesses reported that the former governor was granted administrative bail around 8:00 pm on Wednesday and was exiting the EFCC headquarters in Abuja when DSS operatives, who had apparently been lying in wait, immediately took him into custody.
The DSS arrest is linked to separate allegations that El-Rufai unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
On Monday, February 16, 2026, the DSS filed cybercrime charges against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja (case number FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026).
The charges stem from remarks El-Rufai made during an interview last week, where he claimed the NSA’s phone was tapped and that he overheard Ribadu instructing security operatives to detain him.
He further alleged that this led to an attempted arrest at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Thursday, during which his international passport was briefly confiscated before he was escorted out amid chants from supporters.
DSS prosecutors accused El-Rufai of:
– Admitting to intercepting the NSA’s communications
– Failing to report others involved in unlawful interceptions
– Compromising public safety and national security through the use of technical systems to tap the NSA’s phone
The alleged offences violate provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024, and the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.
No arraignment date has been scheduled, and El-Rufai has not issued a public response to the charges at the time of this report.
The sequence of events—detention by the EFCC followed by immediate rearrest by the DSS—has intensified public debate over whether the former governor is facing coordinated pressure from federal security agencies.
