{"id":195223,"date":"2026-02-17T13:24:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:31:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:31:25","slug":"ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake","title":{"rendered":"Ribadu Says El-Rufai’s Biggest Political Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Political analyst, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, has described recent statements by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as one of the biggest political mistakes of his career as a public officer.<\/p>\n

Speaking on The Morning Show on Arise Television on Tuesday, Ikechukwu said El-Rufai\u2019s claims were specific and not speculative, particularly his assertion that the communication lines of the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, were tapped.<\/p>\n

According to him, El-Rufai went further to suggest that it was not only the government that had the capacity to carry out such actions.<\/p>\n

Ikechukwu stressed that violating the privacy of a public office holder, especially in relation to confidential information, amounts to a breach of privacy and an encroachment on national security infrastructure.<\/p>\n

He warned that the matter should be treated with utmost seriousness, noting that Nigeria and neighbouring countries battling terrorism would be concerned about such statements.<\/p>\n

Ikechukwu said: \u201cWell, the statements of Nasir El-Rufai are not gestural or if you like, he wasn\u2019t guessing. He made very specific statements declaring that the communication lines of the NSA is, if you like, tapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe declared even more convincing, in case you\u2019re doubting him, it\u2019s not only the government that have the capacity to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no right to violate anybody\u2019s privacy if somebody is holding a public office. And you violating the privacy of confidential information or information access to that office is also a violation of privacy. On top of that, it is an encroachment on the infrastructure of national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may be mistaken, but this seems to me to be one of El-Rufai\u2019s biggest political mistakes in his career as a public officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of national security. Remember there are four countries under pressure from Boko Haram and terrorists \u2013 Nigeria, Benin, Niger and Chad. Those countries will be interested in his statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is a frightening statement that has to be treated with every seriousness. It was intended to get political mileage. Well, he has got more mileage than they can handle. I don\u2019t see anybody joking with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Political analyst, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, has described recent statements by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as one of the biggest political mistakes of his career as a public officer. Speaking on The Morning Show on Arise Television on Tuesday, Ikechukwu said El-Rufai\u2019s claims were specific and not speculative, particularly his assertion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":195222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-195223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nRibadu Says El-Rufai's Biggest Political Mistake - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Political analyst, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, has described recent statements by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ribadu Says El-Rufai's Biggest Political Mistake\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Political analyst, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, has described recent statements by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T12:24:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T13:31:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771334974.111849.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"629\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ribadu Says El-Rufai’s Biggest Political Mistake\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-17T12:24:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T13:31:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771334974.111849.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ribadu-says-el-rufais-biggest-political-mistake\",\"name\":\"Ribadu Says El-Rufai's Biggest Political Mistake - 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