The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the no-case submission filed by former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai and ordered him to enter his defence in his ongoing trial over the alleged unlawful interception the telephone communications of National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Monday gave the order while ruling on a no-case submission filed by El-Rufai, stating that prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to warrant calling on the former governor to defend himself against the allegations.
The court, in his ruling delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, dismissed as lacking merit a no-case submission that the embattled former governor filed to be discharged and acquitted of charge against him.
The dismissal of the no-case submission means El-Rufai is required to open his defence if he chooses to do so, rather than have the case dismissed at the stage.
El-Rufai, who was governor between 2015-2023 and also served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the former President Olusegun Obasanjo ‘s administration, is facing trial over comments made when he appeared as a guest on Arise Television on February 13.
He is answering to a five-count amended charge that the Federal Government preferred against him through the Department of State Service (DSS).
The controversy followed an interview the former governor granted to Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, in February 2026, during which he claimed that Ribadu’s telephone conversation had been intercepted.
During the interview, El-Rufai said “someone wiretapped” the NSA’s phone, enabling him to listen to a conversation in which Ribadu allegedly instructed security operatives to arrest him.
The allegation subsequently formed the basis of the DSS prosecution against the former governor. With the court’s dismissal of no-case submission, El-Rufai is expected to present his defence when the case resumes on November 25.
-9News Nigeria.
