The travails of former Governor Nasir El’Rufai seem to keep expanding, as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has dragged him to court again on an amended 11-count charge bordering on alleged corruption, money laundering and related offences.
Arraigned alongside the former Kaduna State are his former Senior Special Adviser and Counsellor, Jimi Lawal, and five others.
In a statement published on its website on Thursday, the ICPC said the defendants were arraigned before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, in Charge No. FHC/KD/93C/2026.
According to the commission, the amended charge names El-Rufai as the first defendant alongside Lawal, Singularity Network Security Limited, Solar Life Nigeria Limited, Knowledge Investment Nigeria Limited, Intercellular Nigeria Limited and Noble Coast Resources Limited.
The anti-graft agency also listed Bashir El-Rufai, identified as an elder brother of the former governor and currently at large, in one of the counts.
The ICPC alleged that El-Rufai, while serving as governor of Kaduna State, approved the award of a contract for the procurement, survey planning, final design and installation of a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system in Kaduna metropolis valued at N8.68 billion to Singularity Network Security Limited, a company it claimed lacked the required experience and qualifications.
The commission further alleged that proceeds from the contract were subsequently moved through several companies and individuals.
According to the charge, the defendants allegedly received and possessed funds exceeding N2 billion through a series of transactions involving the companies between 2017 and 2022, funds the commission said were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
ICPC said the alleged offences contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
One of the counts alleges that El-Rufai aided an act of corruption by approving the CCTV contract in violation of procurement laws despite allegedly knowing that the company awarded the contract lacked the requisite experience.
Both El-Rufai and Lawal pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until July 1, 2026, for ruling on the defendants’ bail applications.
Recall that El-Rufai is facing multiple prosecutions from other angles including the DSS, which is prosecuting him on five counts linked to the alleged interception of communications involving National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
(Ripples)
