Whether the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja will continue hearing the case instituted against former Kaduna State Governor, Madam Nasir El-Rufai will be decided by the court on October 26, this year.
This is when the court will rule on the motion filed by the ex governor calling for a stop if his trial.
El-Rufai is being tried for alleged interception of the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu.
El-Rufai, through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the court to discharge and acquit him of the five-count amended charge the Federal Government preferred against him through the Department of State Services (DSS).
He insisted that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case to warrant the court compelling him to enter a defence to the charge, which he described as incompetent.
The defendant therefore prayed the court to uphold his no-case submission and terminate further proceedings on the matter.
However, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the application and order the defendant to open his defence to the charge.
Aladedoye maintained that the oral and documentary evidence laid before the court was sufficient to tie the defendant to the allegations against him.
After listening to both sides, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned to rule on the application.
Recall that the FG closed its case after two witnesses testified before the court.
The court had, on July 23, dismissed as lacking in merit an application the former governor filed for the variation of his bail conditions, which he described as very stringent and difficult to fulfil.
According to El-Rufai’s lawyer, the bail conditions sought to be varied included the requirement that the defendant produce level 17 civil servants with properties in Maitama or Asokoro, as well as verification and attestation letters from the Kaduna State traditional council.
However, the prosecution opposed the variation request, insisting that qualified public officers who could meet the conditions exist and could easily be secured by the defendant.
It therefore persuaded the court to reject the application.
Delivering a ruling on the matter, Justice Abdulmalik agreed with the prosecution, saying she found no reason to alter the initial bail conditions, which she said were intended to ensure the defendant’s attendance at his trial.
The ex governor, who served as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory in the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, was a stauch supporter of incumbent President Bola Tinubu when the latter was seeking to contest the presidential poll on 2023.
However, things fell apart between the duo and the issue of phone tapping came up following a statement El-Rufai made on a private television station some months ago.
He has been in detention since then.
