ICPC drags El-Rufai, 5 firms to court over alleged CCTV contract scam

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, before the Federal High Court in Kaduna over an alleged ₦8.68 billion fraud linked to a CCTV surveillance contract.

El-Rufai was arraigned alongside his former Senior Special Adviser and Counsellor, Jimi Adebisi Lawal, and five companies on charges bordering on corruption, money laundering and financial misconduct.

The case, filed under charge number FHC/KD/93C/2026, is before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari of the Federal High Court, Kaduna.

The other defendants named in the amended 11-count charge are Singularity Network Security Limited, Solar Life Nigeria Limited, Knowledge Investment Nigeria Limited, Intercellular Nigeria Limited and Noble Coast Resources Limited.

The anti-graft agency also listed Bashir El-Rufai, identified as an elder brother of the former governor, in one of the charges. He is reportedly at large.

According to the ICPC, the charges stem from the award of a contract for the procurement, survey planning, final design and installation of a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system across Kaduna metropolis.

The Commission alleged that El-Rufai, while serving as governor, approved the contract valued at ₦8,682,574,054.94 in favour of Singularity Network Security Limited despite the company allegedly lacking the technical competence and experience required to execute the project.

Investigators further claimed that funds linked to the contract were subsequently moved through several companies and individuals in transactions spanning between 2017 and 2022.

According to the ICPC, more than ₦2 billion suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities was transferred through various channels involving the companies named in the charge, allegedly to conceal the source of the funds.

One of the charges accused El-Rufai of aiding an act of corruption by approving the CCTV contract in violation of procurement laws.

The Commission stated that the alleged offence contravenes provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, both El-Rufai and Lawal pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Their legal team subsequently applied for bail, urging the court to release them pending the determination of the case.

After hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defence, Justice Buhari adjourned the matter until July 1, 2026, for a ruling on the bail applications.