Court Orders El-Rufai to Enter Defence on Alleged Wiretapping Trial

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to enter his defence in the ongoing trial concerning alleged wiretapping of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu's telephone communications. The court dismissed El-Rufai's no-case submission, which argued that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him.

The judge noted that there is sufficient evidence presented by the prosecution to warrant the defendant to enter his defence. The case involves five charges against El-Rufai, and he is currently standing trial via the Department of State Services (DSS). During the no-case submission hearing on September 22, the prosecution, represented by Oluwole Aladedoye, objected to El-Rufai's submission and urged the court to dismiss it and order him to enter his defence.

Prosecutors claimed that the defendant had not addressed Exhibit "B," which allegedly contains his admission related to the tapping of Ribadu's phone. However, El-Rufai's defence lawyer, Akinyemi Aremu, argued that the prosecution did not establish a prima facie case against his client to require him to enter a defence. El-Rufai opted for a no-case submission after the prosecution's closing arguments, presenting two witnesses - an operative from the DSS and lawyer Deji Adeyanju.

Adeyanju testified that El-Rufai admitted during a television interview that he wiretapped the NSA's phone lines.