Court Picks Date To Rule On El-Rufai’s No Case Submission On Phone Tapping Allegation

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 26, 2026, to rule on a no-case submission filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai in the alleged phone-tapping case brought against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Naija News reports that the judge reserved her ruling after hearing arguments from both El-Rufai’s defence team and the DSS on whether the former governor should be required to enter a defence.

El-Rufai’s counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN), while adopting the no-case submission, argued that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case against his client.

Erokoro urged the court to rule that the evidence the DSS presented was inadequate to warrant calling on El-Rufai to defend himself.

But counsel for the DSS, Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), opposed the application and asked the court to dismiss the no-case submission.

Aladedoye adopted the DSS’s counter to the application, maintaining that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to require the former governor to open his defence.

A major point of contention was Exhibit B, which the prosecution said contained an alleged admission by El-Rufai relating to the interception of Ribadu’s telephone communications.

DSS counsel argued that the defence had failed to adequately address the exhibit’s contents and implications in its no-case submission.

He consequently urged Justice Abdulmalik to reject the application and order El-Rufai to enter his defence.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until October 26, when she will rule on the no-case submission.

Recall that El-Rufai was charged to court after publicly stating during a television interview that the telephone conversations of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, were intercepted.