The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday, September 22, urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss former Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai’s no-case submission in his ongoing trial over the unlawful interception of telephone conversations involving the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
El-Rufai, through his no-case submission, argued that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him and that he should therefore not be called upon to enter a defence.
The prosecution, however, opposed the submission.
The DSS is prosecuting El-Rufai on a five-count amended charge.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, prosecuting counsel Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, faulted El-Rufai’s no-case submission and urged the court to dismiss it and order him to enter his defence.
Aladedoye argued that El-Rufai had failed to address Exhibit B, which the prosecution said contained an admission by the former governor regarding the tapping of Ribadu’s telephone.
He contended that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against El-Rufai through the testimonies of its two witnesses and that the defendant should therefore be called upon to present his defence.
Defence counsel Akinyemi Aremu, while adopting El-Rufai’s no-case submission, argued that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against his client.
Aremu urged the court to uphold the no-case submission and discharge El-Rufai.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until October 26 for ruling on the no-case submission.
El-Rufai filed the no-case submission after the prosecution closed its case, having called two witnesses: a DSS operative and lawyer Deji Adeyanju.
Adeyanju, who testified as a subpoenaed witness, told the court that El-Rufai had admitted during a television interview that he wiretapped the NSA’s telephone lines.
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