Court Reserves Ruling on El-Rufai’s No-Case Submission in Alleged Wiretapping Case

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has reserved ruling on a no-case submission by a former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, in a charge of alleged wiretapping brought against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The DSS filed an amended five-count charge against El-Rufai following a February 13, 2026, Arise TV interview where he stated that associates had listened to the phone communications of National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.

The secret police had told the court that El-Rufai’s actions breached the Cybercrimes and Nigerian Communications laws.

At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, counsel to El-Rufai, Paul Erokoro, SAN, informed the court that they filed a no-case application on August 26, 2026.

A.K. Ekere, who held brief for Erokoro, urged the court to discharge the case filed against El-Rufai and award penalties against the DSS, arguing that no prima-facie evidence was before the court to warrant a defence.

Responding, the prosecuting lawyer, Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution filed its reply to the no-case submission on September 6, 2026.

He urged the court to overrule the no-case submission filed by the defence and order El-Rufai to begin his defence.

He added that there was evidence of El-Rufai’s confession which was tendered as evidence in court, adding that it duly established a case against the former governor.

After listening to the lawyers to the DSS and the former governor, the presiding judge, Justice Joyce Abdullmalik, adjourned the matter to October 26, 2026.