Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has arraigned former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, alongside his former Senior Special Adviser and Counsellor, Jimi Lawal, and five others over an alleged N8.68 billion CCTV surveillance contract awarded during his administration.
The defendants were brought before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari of the Federal High Court in Kaduna on an amended 11-count charge bordering on alleged corruption, money laundering and related offences.
According to the ICPC, El-Rufai, while serving as governor, approved the award of a contract for the procurement, survey planning, final design and installation of a Closed-Circuit Television surveillance system in Kaduna metropolis valued at N8.68 billion.
The commission alleged that the contract was awarded to Singularity Network Security Limited, a company it claimed lacked the required experience and qualifications for the project. It further alleged that funds linked to the contract were transferred through a network of companies and individuals.
Other defendants in the suit include Singularity Network Security Limited, Solar Life Nigeria Limited, Knowledge Investment Nigeria Limited, Intercellular Nigeria Limited and Noble Coast Resources Limited. The commission also named Bashir El-Rufai, identified as an elder brother of the former governor and currently at large, in one of the counts.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the defendants received and possessed funds exceeding N2 billion between 2017 and 2022 through a series of transactions involving the companies listed in the charge, adding that the funds were suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
Part of the charge reads: “That you, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (M) sometime in December, 2015 or thereabout at Kaduna, Kaduna State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while being the Executive Governor of Kaduna State aided an act of corruption, when you approved the award of contract for the procurement of survey planning, final design and installation of CCTV at Kaduna metropolis in the reviewed sum of N8,682,574,054.94 (Eight Billion, Six Hundred and Eighty-Two Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-Four Thousand, Fifty-Four Naira, Ninety-Four Kobo) to Messrs. Singularity Network Security Limited, a company with no requisite experience and in violation of procurement laws, which act you knew was unlawful and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
El-Rufai and Lawal pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read in court.
Following their arraignment, Justice Buhari adjourned proceedings until July 1, 2026, for a ruling on their bail applications.
The case marks the latest legal challenge involving the former governor, who is also facing a separate matter instituted by the Department of State Services over allegations relating to the wiretapping of the phone of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
