Court Tells El-Rufai: You Have Case To Answer; Defend Yourself
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has a case to answer in the current trial over his alleged unlawful interception of telephone conversations involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The court on Tuesday dismissed a no-case submission filed by the defence counsel of the former Kaduna State Governor.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ruled on Monday, October 26, that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to require El-Rufai to enter his defence against the five-count amended charge brought by the Department of State Services.
She adjourned the case until November 25, 2026, for the defence to open its case.
El-Rufai filed the application after the prosecution closed its case following testimony from two witnesses.
His counsel, Paul Erokoro, asked the court to discharge and acquit him, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.
Erokoro maintained that the evidence was insufficient to require his client to answer the allegations.
Prosecution counsel Oluwole Aladedoye opposed the application, arguing that the oral and documentary evidence presented warranted a response from the defendant.
Justice Abdulmalik agreed that the proceedings should continue to the defence stage.
The charges followed comments El-Rufai made during an appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme in February 2026.
During the interview, he claimed that someone had intercepted Ribadu’s telephone conversation, allowing him to hear the national security adviser allegedly instruct security operatives to arrest him.
The allegations arising from those comments form the basis of the DSS prosecution.
