The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, his former Senior Special Adviser and Counsellor, Jimi Lawal, and five others, before the Federal High Court in Kaduna over alleged corruption, money laundering and related offences.
According to a statement issued by the anti-graft agency on Thursday, the defendants were arraigned before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari in Charge No. FHC/KD/93C/2026 on an amended 11-count charge.
The commission named El-Rufai as the first defendant alongside Lawal, Singularity Network Security Limited, Solar Life Nigeria Limited, Knowledge Investment Nigeria Limited, Intercellular Nigeria Limited and Noble Coast Resources Limited, as other defendants.
The ICPC also listed Bashir El-Rufai, identified as an older brother of the former governor and currently at large, in one of the charges.
The anti-corruption agency alleged that while serving as governor, El-Rufai approved the award of an N8.68 billion contract for the procurement, survey planning, final design and installation of a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system in Kaduna metropolis to Singularity Network Security Limited, a company the anti-graft commission claimed lacked the requisite experience and qualifications for the project.
According to the commission, funds generated from the contract were subsequently channelled through various companies and individuals.
The ICPC further alleged that between 2017 and 2022, the defendants received and possessed more than N2 billion through a series of transactions involving the companies, funds it said were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The alleged offences, according to the commission, contravened provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
One of the charges accused El-Rufai of aiding an act of corruption by approving the CCTV contract in breach of procurement regulations despite allegedly knowing that the contractor lacked the necessary competence to execute the project.
El-Rufai and Lawal, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read in court.
Justice Buhari subsequently adjourned the matter until July 1, 2026, for ruling on the defendants’ bail applications.
The former governor is also facing separate legal proceedings instituted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged interception of telephone communications of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
