Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is to file a no-case submission in his alleged wiretapping trial, after the Department of State Services closed its case against him before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.
The DSS is prosecuting El-Rufai on a five-count amended charge bordering on alleged unlawful interception of communications and breach of national security.
The charges said the former Kaduna State governor told Arise Television during a live interview in February that he had intercepted a telephone conversation involving Ribadu which allegedly exposed plans by security operatives to arrest him, an offence the agency said contravened Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.
At the resumed hearing, counsel for the DSS, Oluwole Aladedoye, informed the court that the prosecution would not be calling any more witnesses, thereby closing its case formally.
After the development, El-Rufai’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro (SAN), informed the court that the defence would be filing a no-case submission, contending that the prosecution had not presented enough evidence to compel his client to enter a defence.
The defence sought two weeks to file the application, and the prosecution sought a further two weeks to reply.
Erokoro also asked for a variation of the bail conditions granted the former governor earlier saying the conditions were stringent and difficult to meet.
He said it was burdensome for Level 17 civil servants with properties in the Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja to stand as sureties and to get verification and attestation letters from the Kaduna State Traditional Council.
But the prosecution opposed the application, insisting that there were public officers who satisfied the conditions, and urging the court to dismiss the request.
Ruling on the application, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik declined to vary the bail conditions, holding that there were civil servants that owned properties in the designated areas and could be sureties.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter until September 22 for the filing of the no-case submission and the continuation of the proceedings.