By Ayodele Oni
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and seven others are facing fresh charges over alleged fraud and money laundering linked to a ₦10.8 billion CCTV security project in Kaduna State.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) filed the fresh criminal charges at the Federal High Court, Kaduna.
This latest filing marks the third set of charges the ICPC has brought against the former governor since March.
A former Kaduna State Commissioner for Information and Chairman of Liberty Television, Alhaji Tijjani Ramalan, disclosed the development in a Facebook post, stating that El-Rufai and the co-accused are expected to soon respond to the new charges in court.
The ICPC alleged that El-Rufai approved the award of an ₦8.68 billion CCTV contract in December 2015 to a company it described as lacking the technical capacity to execute the project.
The commission further claimed that multiple suspicious financial transactions were carried out between 2017 and 2022 involving individuals and firms connected to the project.
Court filings submitted at the Federal High Court in Kaduna on April 17 show that the anti-graft agency levelled 11 counts against the former governor and the other defendants under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Among the companies named in the case are Singularity Network Security Limited and other entities allegedly linked to the security contract.
Other defendants include a former Kaduna State government official, Jimi Lawal, senior executives of IHS Towers, and five corporate bodies.
Although one of El-Rufai’s sons, Bashir El-Rufai, was mentioned in the allegations, he was not listed as a defendant in the fresh charges.
El-Rufai is already facing separate corruption-related cases involving other state projects, including a light rail contract and severance payments, all of which he has previously denied wrongdoing.
FOLLOW
US FOR MORE