The Federal Government has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to order former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to enter his defence in the criminal case over the alleged illegal interception of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s telephone communications.
The prosecution made the demand on Tuesday while opposing El-Rufai’s no-case submission seeking to terminate the trial without him presenting a defence.
Prosecution counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, told Justice Joyce Abdulmalik that the oral and documentary evidence already presented before the court was sufficient to establish a case against the former governor.
Aladedoye therefore urged the court to dismiss El-Rufai’s application and direct him to open his defence to the five-count amended charge filed against him by the Federal Government through the Department of State Services.
El-Rufai, however, through his lawyer, Paul Erokoro, SAN, maintained that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case requiring him to defend himself.
The defence argued that the prosecution was attempting to turn comments made by El-Rufai during a television interview into a confession to telephone interception.
Erokoro contended that the former governor’s statements during the Arise Television programme were not confessional statements because they were not made under caution and were delivered during a public discussion rather than a police or security interrogation.
He urged the court to uphold the no-case submission and discharge El-Rufai.
After listening to the arguments, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until October 26, when she will rule on whether the former governor has a case to answer.
The Federal Government had earlier closed its case after calling two witnesses.
The case arose from comments El-Rufai made during an Arise Television programme in February 2026 while discussing an alleged attempt by DSS operatives to arrest him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The prosecution alleges that El-Rufai knew and was associated with an individual who illegally intercepted Ribadu’s telephone communications and that he failed to report the alleged offence to the appropriate security agencies.
The former governor has denied the allegations and previously asked the court to quash the charge, arguing that his television comments could not legally constitute a confession. The court rejected that application and ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.
