El-Rufai and Six Others Charged in ₦8.68bn Fraud Case

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, alongside Mr. Jimi Adebisi Lawal and five companies over an alleged ₦8.68 billion fraud related to a CCTV surveillance contract.

The charges, filed in the Federal High Court in Kaduna under case number FHC/KD/93C/2026, include 11 counts of financial misconduct and money laundering. The ICPC claims that El-Rufai approved the contract worth ₦8,682,574,054.94 in favor of Singular Network Security Limited, despite the company allegedly lacking the required technical capacity to execute the project.

The commission argues that the contract approval violated public procurement laws and that the funds were moved through various channels to conceal their origin. El-Rufai and Lawal pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the court has adjourned the matter to July 1, 2026, while a bail application is pending.