The Department of State Services (DSS) will, on February 25, arraign former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on alleged cybercrime and breach of national security.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court (FHC) fixed the date after the Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, assigned the case to her.

The DSS, on Monday, filed a three-count criminal charge against El-Rufai following his alleged involvement in wiretapping the telephone lines of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

The charge, instituted by the Nigerian secret police, is marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026.

The service accused El-Rufai of breaching the Cybercrimes Prohibition Act (2024) and the Nigerian Communications Act (2003.)

In court, El-Rufai was alleged to have, on Feb. 13, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, admitted during the interview that he and his cohorts unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the NSA, Mr Ribadu.

The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.

In count two, the ex-governor was alleged to have, on Feb. 13, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, stated during the interview that he knew and related with a certain individual who unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the NSA, without reporting the said individual to relevant security agencies.

The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 27(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.

Count three alleged that El-Rufai and others still at large, sometime in 2026, in Abuja, did use technical equipment or systems which compromised public safety and national security and instilled reasonable apprehension of insecurity among Nigerians by unlawfully intercepting the NSA’s phone communications.

The act, which the DSS said the ex-governor admitted during an interview on Feb. 13th on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, “and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 131(2) Nigerian Communications Act 2003.”

Former Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has commended Alex Otti, governor of Abia, for his “transformational leadership”.

Osinbajo, who was Nigeria’s number two citizen from 2015 to 2023, spoke on Wednesday during a visit to Otti at the governor’s office in Umuahia, which coincided with the governor’s birthday.

Commenting on Otti’s spell in office so far, Osinbajo said “the governor has made public service worthwhile”.

“Sometimes you wonder whether, after all the efforts to get into office, leaders are able to fulfil their promises,” Osinbajo said.

“But in your case, you have done not just what you promised, but even more. You have made public service worthwhile.”

The ex-vice-president said he has seen “tangible evidence of progress” within a short time in the state, adding that Otti has lived up to the people’s expectations.

Osinbajo also applauded the governor’s social welfare reforms, particularly the signing into law of the Senior Citizens’ Law, describing it as a compassionate and socially responsible initiative.

He further lauded the administration’s road infrastructure projects and improved connectivity across the state, noting that they reflect results-driven governance.

“Governance is about the people — their welfare, their safety and their peace of mind. If you enter office for any other reason, you miss the essence of leadership,” he said.

In his response, Otti thanked Osinbajo for the visit and described him as a brother, friend and mentor.

The governor clarified that the gathering was not a formal birthday celebration, noting that he rarely commemorates such events publicly while in office.

A 37 years old Nigerian, Matthew Akande, has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment by a United States court for stealing taxpayers’ information to obtain fraudulent tax refunds worth $1.3 million.

Indira Talwani, a US district court judge in Boston, sentenced Akande to eight years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Akande was arrested in October 2024, at the Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom at the request of the US government and extradited to the US on March 5, 2025.

He was indicted for conspiracy to obtain unauthorised access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud and to commit theft of government money and money laundering; wire fraud; unauthorised access to protected computers in furtherance of fraud; theft of government money; and aggravated identity theft.

According to the US government, between June 2016 and June 2021, Akande worked with others to steal money from the country using taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent tax returns in taxpayers’ names.

The US government said the scheme “involved stealing taxpayers’ PII from Massachusetts tax preparation firms via phishing attacks and computer intrusions”.

Akande was said to have sent fraudulent phishing emails to five Massachusetts tax preparation firms.

“The emails purported to be from a prospective client seeking the tax preparation firms’ services but in truth were used to trick the firms into downloading remote access trojan malicious software (RAT malware), including malware known as Warzone RAT,” the US government said.

“Akande used the RAT malware to obtain the PII and prior year tax information of the tax preparation firms’ clients, which Akande then used to cause fraudulent tax returns to be filed seeking refunds.

“The tax returns directed that the fraudulent tax refunds be deposited in bank accounts opened by co-conspirators in the United States. Once the refunds were issued, those co-conspirators withdrew the stolen money in cash in the United States and then transferred a portion to third parties in Mexico, at Akande’s direction, while keeping a portion for themselves.

“In total, Akande and his co-conspirators filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds over approximately five years. They successfully obtained over $1.3 million in fraudulent tax refunds.”