Bashir El-Rufai has clarified that his father, Nasir El-Rufa’i, has never admitted to tapping anyone’s phone.

According to him, his father only stated that another person carried out the phone tapping and later passed the information to him without being asked.

He also appealed to the public not to misrepresent the issue in a way that could cause trouble for his father, urging people to stop attempting to implicate him.

He wrote on X: “He did not say HE tapped anybody’s phone. He alleged someone else did and unsolicitedly shared the information to him. No dey try help dem put my Papa for prison, abeg.”

His clarification comes after calls by Bayo Onanuga, the president’s aide on Information and Strategy, for an investigation into El-Rufa’i, citing the gravity of the former governor’s comments.

El-Rufa’i had previously stated on live television that he had information about a conversation on the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu’s phone.

His son, however, denied that his father had initiated the phone tapping.

Human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has slammed former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, saying nobody is persecuting him.

He said EL-Rufai was rather facing Karma of what he did to people while in power.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ on Friday, Adeyanju called for a thorough investigation of the former governor over corruption allegations.

Ekwutosblog reports that operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, attempted to arrest El-Rufai on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a development which has sparked public debates across the country.

Speaking on Friday during the interview, the legal practitioner said, “Nobody is persecuting El-Rufai. If you want to see what persecution is, go and look at all the victims of El-Rufai during his time as Governor of Kaduna State.

“Professor Chidi Odinkalu was persecuted by El-Rufai. Steven Kefas was also persecuted. The Audu Maikori he tried to make light of the situation was persecuted and jailed by El-Rufai.

“Their only crime was criticising him. El-Rufai demolished the house of Senator Hunkuyi, his opponent in Kaduna State. He should be investigated over corruption allegations.”

“Even as I’m calling for his investigation, I’m still saying his right must be respected. El-Rufai is facing the same Karma that former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami is facing today.

“When these people were in power, they behaved like gods. They did not follow due process. Teachers and civil servants in Kaduna went to court, got an order restraining El-Rufai from sacking them, but he went ahead and sacked them nonetheless,” he added.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has designated “money bouquets” as a form of naira abuse, placing them alongside offences such as spraying, squeezing, selling, and defacing banknotes.

Money bouquet is when money is folded to look like a flower petal and then arranged together to create a bouquet.

The CBN made this known in a flier shared on its Twitter handle that listed forms of abusing the naira.

The apex bank captioned the post, “It is your civic duty to protect the naira. Report naira abuse today.”

Under the CBN Act, anyone caught tampering with the naira faces a minimum of six months in prison or a fine of at least ₦50,000.

Nigerians have been urged to protect the naira and report violations as enforcement agencies step up actions against offenders nationwide.

The CBN also provided toll-free hot-lines through which the apex bank could be reached to report such activities.

This comes just days before the celebration of Valentine’s Day, which sees many display their love by gifting their loved ones money bouquets and other items.