Kiss Before Court: El-Rufai Shares Romantic Moment With Wife as He Arrives at Abuja Court for Wiretapping Trial

The camera was waiting for a former governor in trouble. It got a husband in love.

Nasir El-Rufai didn’t walk into the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday like a man about to be told to defend himself for allegedly wiretapping the National Security Adviser. He walked in to the warm embrace of his wife, kissed her, and smiled.

That 5-second kiss is now doing more numbers than the court ruling.

Watch The Moment El-Rufai Kissed His Wife In Court#CTVTweets pic.twitter.com/d0glnKmVhH

— Channels Television (@channelstv) October 26, 2026

According to Channels TV, that kiss happened shortly before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik delivered a major blow: El-Rufai’s no-case submission was dismissed. The court held the DSS, prosecuting on behalf of the Federal Government, had presented enough evidence in the five-count amended charge of unlawful interception of Nuhu Ribadu’s telephone communications. He must now open his defence. Adjourned to November 25, 2026.

El-Rufai had hoped to walk free without calling a single witness. The judge said no. You must defend yourself.

But on X, nobody is debating “unlawful interception” or Section 15 of the Cybercrime Act. They are debating love.

Because El-Rufai — the bulldozer governor, the demolisher of Kaduna, the man who once tweeted “There is no going back on demolitions” — is not known for public displays of affection. His wife, Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, author and former First Lady of Kaduna, is known for being fiercely private, witty on X, and often defending him.

Seeing them kiss at the court gate was like seeing Wike smile at Fubara. Unexpected.

One user posted, “El-Rufai sabi this PR thing. Before judge go knack am, he don knack kiss. 😭 Love will keep us alive before prison.”

Another wrote, “My husband no fit kiss me for inside bedroom, El-Rufai dey kiss wife for front of Federal High Court. God abeg.”

A third countered, “Make una no fall for love story. Na wiretapping trial be this o. He allegedly tapped NSA Ribadu phone. That’s national security. Kiss no go save am from November 25.”

And that’s the context people miss. This is not just any trial. The complainant is Nuhu Ribadu — NSA, former EFCC chairman, former ally, now the nation’s top security adviser. Allegation is that El-Rufai unlawfully intercepted his phone communications. DSS is prosecuting. It’s a rare case where a former governor is accused of tapping the phone of the man who advises the President on security.

If you link to now, it gets more interesting. Today also, Peter Obi and Obasanjo trend for a 2-month-old Bauchi video reshared by Mama Pee. Tinubu trends for blaming past governments for hunger in Kaduna yesterday. Dayo Israel trends for Prado SUVs. El-Rufai’s kiss trends alongside them — all 2027 actors fighting for narrative. But El-Rufai’s narrative is not power or SUV — it’s “I’m still loved.”

It worked. For a man who could face jail if convicted, he managed to make X talk about marriage, not wiretapping.

Maybe that’s the oldest defence in law: when the case is heavy, show the court you have a soft heart waiting at home.

On November 25, he will return to start his defence. Will he kiss her again?

Abuja will be watching — for the kiss, not the law.