The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, his former Senior Special Adviser and Counsellor, Jimi Lawal, and five others over an alleged ₦8.68 billion CCTV surveillance contract awarded during his administration.
In a statement published on its website on Thursday, the commission said the defendants were arraigned before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari of the Federal High Court in Kaduna in Charge No. FHC/KD/93C/2026.
The amended 11-count charge borders on allegations of corruption, money laundering, and related offences.
Others named in the charge include Singularity Network Security Limited, Solar Life Nigeria Limited, Knowledge Investment Nigeria Limited, Intercellular Nigeria Limited, and Noble Coast Resources Limited.
The ICPC also listed Bashir El-Rufai, the former governor’s brother, who is currently at large, in one of the counts.
According to the commission, El-Rufai, while serving as governor, approved the award of a contract for the procurement, survey planning, final design, and installation of a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system in Kaduna metropolis valued at ₦8.68 billion to Singularity Network Security Limited.
The agency alleged that the company lacked the requisite experience for the contract and that funds connected to the project were subsequently channelled through multiple companies and individuals.
It further alleged that the defendants received and transferred more than ₦2 billion between 2017 and 2022 through a network of transactions involving the named companies, with the funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
The ICPC said the alleged offences contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Count One of the charge reads in part that El-Rufai, in December 2015 in Kaduna, while serving as governor, “aided an act of corruption” by approving the contract award to Singularity Network Security Limited, a company allegedly lacking the requisite experience and in violation of procurement laws, contrary to Section 21(a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Both El-Rufai and Lawal pleaded not guilty when the charges were read in court.
Justice Buhari adjourned the case until July 1, 2026, for ruling on the defendants’ bail applications.
The former governor is also facing a separate case filed by the Department of State Services over allegations of alleged wiretapping of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s telephone conversations.
