The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a no-case submission filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai in his trial over the alleged unlawful interception of the telephone communications of National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu.
Judge Joyce Abdulmalik, in a ruling on Monday, held that the Department of State Services (DSS) had presented sufficient evidence to require El-Rufai to enter his defence, if he chooses.
The judge consequently ordered the former governor, the sole defendant in the case, to enter his defence.
A defendant who fails to enter defence risks leaving the judge with no other option than to foreclose the defence and determine the defendant’s guilty or innocence solely on the strength of the evidence presented by the prosecution.
El-Rufai, through his lawyer, Akinyemi Aremu, had urged the court to hold that the prosecution had failed to establish a case requiring him to defend himself.
However, the DSS counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), opposed the submission and adopted the prosecution’s arguments against it.
Aladedoye argued that the defence had failed to address Exhibit B, which the prosecution said contained El-Rufai’s alleged admission concerning the interception of Ribadu’s telephone communications.
El-Rufai, who has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), maintained that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the former governor and that he was therefore required to enter his defence.
The DSS filed the charges against El-Rufai following comments he made during an interview on Arise Television in the aftermath of a failed attempt to arrest him at the Abuja airport in February.
DSS operatives attempted to arrest El-Rufai on 12 February, following his arrival from Cairo, Egypt.
While the arrest was unsuccessful, the security operatives seized the former governor’s passport.
The following day, El-Rufai alleged during a live interview on ‘Prime Time’, an Arise Television programme, that Ribadu was behind the alleged attempt to arrest him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He said he knew Ribadu ordered his arrest from listening to a wire-tapped phone call made by Ribadu instructing security operatives to carry out his arrest.
Following the interview, the DSS charged him with five counts relating to the alleged unlawful interception of telephone communications and other offences under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024 and the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to the charges when he was arraigned in April.
The prosecution called two witnesses before closing its case in June.
The first witness, a DSS operative identified in court by the code name APC, testified about the agency’s monitoring and preservation of the recording of El-Rufai’s television interview.
The prosecution also called lawyer and human rights activist Deji Adeyanju, who testified about the interview.
Adeyanju told the court that he was at the Arise Television studio in Abuja when El-Rufai gave the interview. The court also watched a recording of the programme.
During his testimony, Adeyanju confirmed that the recording reflected what he witnessed during the interview.
Under cross-examination, he told the court that he heard El-Rufai say, “we listened to their calls.”
However, he acknowledged that El-Rufai did not expressly say that he had personally tapped the NSA’s telephone.
After presenting the witnesses and its evidence, the prosecution informed the court that it would not call any further witnesses and closed its case.
El-Rufai’s no-case submission
Following the prosecution’s closure of its case, the defence indicated that it would file a no-case submission, asking the court to dismiss the charges without requiring El-Rufai to enter his defence.
A no-case submission asks a court to discharge a defendant on the ground that the prosecution has not presented sufficient evidence to warrant a defence.
El-Rufai subsequently filed the submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish a case against him.
The prosecution, however, opposed the application, insisting that its evidence was sufficient to require him to answer the allegations.
In Monday’s ruling, Judge Abdulmalik agreed with the prosecution that El-Rufai has a case to answer.
He rejected the defence’s argument and held that the evidence presented was sufficient to require El-Rufai to enter his defence.
This means the former governor will now have to enter his defence if he chooses to contest the allegations.
El-Rufai is facing corruption charges instituted against him by the ICPC before two separate courts in Kaduna over his activities during his eight years as governor. He is also pursuing different human rights enforcement cases which arose from the actions of the ICPC concerning him and his family members since his detention by the commission in February. He recently lost two of the cases.
