Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, has petitioned the court to drop the accusations the Department of State Services brought against him, calling the case an egregious abuse of the legal system and inept.
The Federal High Court is still considering the application that was submitted in answer to Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik is slated to hear the case on February 25, 2026.
El-Rufai is requesting in the move to have the charge dated February 16, 2026, quashed or struck out on the grounds that it reveals no offense that is known to law and is a misuse of the legal system.
Additionally, he is requesting that the court release him on the grounds that there is insufficient evidence to support the charge.
In addition, the former governor is suing the DSS for N2 billion in fees, claiming that the criminal justice system was used unlawfully to harass and humiliate him and that there was “abuse and misuse of the court process.”
The court documents state that the motion, which cites 17 reasons for dismissal, contests the accusations’ constitutionality on the basis that they fail to comply with statutory criteria and allege crimes that are not known to the law. Claims of bad faith and political persecution, lack of proof, alleged duplicity, and prosecution incompetence are further grounds.
Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees the presumption of innocence; Section 36(11), which provides for the right against self-incrimination; Section 36(12), which requires that offenses be defined in written law; and Sections 39 and 40, which guarantee the freedom of expression and freedom of association, respectively, are among the constitutional provisions that the application further argues the prosecution violated in violation of El-Rufai’s fundamental rights.
According to El-Rufai’s legal team, the application was formally communicated to the Director-General of the DSS by letter dated February 18, which included his counsel’s details.
As we previously reported, El-Rufai was scheduled to be arraigned by the DSS on February 25 for alleged cybercrime and national security breach.
The former governor was charged with three counts of criminal activity by the DSS for allegedly illegally listening in on National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s phone conversation.
El-Rufai was accused by the secret police of violating the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 and the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act of 2024.
As a guest on Arise TV’s Prime Time Program in Abuja on February 13, 2026, the former governor allegedly acknowledged in the interview that he and others illegally intercepted the NSA’s phone communications. This is a violation of Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, according to the DSS.
In count two, El-Rufai was charged with claiming in the same TV appearance that he was acquainted with someone who illegally collected the NSA’s phone conversations without alerting the appropriate security services.
According to the DSS, Section 27(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, applies to the accused offense.
During the live Arise TV interview, El-Rufai had stated that he had heard Ribadu ordering security personnel to hold him. He connected the purported order to what he described as an attempted arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on February 12 after returning from Cairo, Egypt.
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