ALLEGED NATIONAL SECURITY BREACH: EL-RUFAI DENIES CHARGES IN COURT

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By:Tajudeen Aminat

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on a five-count amended charge relating to an alleged breach of national security.

El-Rufai appeared before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, where he pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

When the case was called, DSS counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), informed the court that the matter was scheduled for the defendant to enter his plea.

Aladedoye informed the court that a further amended five-count charge had been filed on April 13, 2026, and urged the court to replace the earlier three-count charge with the new one.

Counsel to Nasir El-Rufai, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), confirmed that he had been served with the amended charge and stated that he had no objection.

Following this, the judge struck out the earlier three-count charge.

After the charges were read out, the former governor pleaded not guilty. Aladedoye then requested three consecutive dates for the commencement of trial.

However, Iyamu opposed the request, arguing that since the defendant was in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), arranging access to him for three consecutive trial days could be challenging and may not be in the best interest of the proceedings.

He also informed the court of a pending bail application filed on February 17, 2026.

However, the further affidavit supporting the bail application was initially missing from the court file, prompting the judge to adjourn proceedings briefly for Nasir El-Rufai’s counsel, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), to take necessary steps.

When the matter resumed, the missing affidavit was located and made available to the court.

The DSS informed the court that it was not opposing the bail application.

The prosecution then applied for an order to protect the identities of two proposed witnesses, seeking to prevent their names from appearing in public court records and requesting that pseudonyms be used during the trial.

It argued that the witnesses and their families could be at risk of attack from individuals sympathetic to El-Rufai.

However, the defence opposed the application through written submissions and a further affidavit, urging the court to dismiss the request. It maintained that the accused has a constitutional right to know his accusers.

The defence further argued that there was no evidence before the court to support the prosecution’s claim that Nasir El-Rufai had a cult-like following or posed any security threat.

Counsel to the former Kaduna governor stated that his client had devoted his life to public service, warning that granting a blanket order of anonymity could unfairly prejudice the accused.

The defence team also applied for an order compelling the prosecution to provide proof of evidence to enable proper preparation for trial.

The prosecution, however, opposed the request in a counter-affidavit, arguing that the documents sought by the defence were not part of its filed processes.

The defence also informed the court that it had filed an additional application seeking to quash the charge.