The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, and his former Senior Special Adviser and Counsellor, Jimi Adebisi Lawal, over an alleged ₦8.68 billion Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) contract fraud.
​The duo, alongside five corporate entities, were docked on Thursday, June 25, 2026, before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari of the Federal High Court in Kaduna, under an 11-count amended criminal charge bordering on corruption, money laundering, and public procurement violations.
​According to court documents filed in Charge No. FHC/KD/93C/2026, the anti-graft agency alleged that El-Rufai, during his tenure as executive governor in December 2015, unlawfully approved a contract for the procurement, survey planning, final design, and installation of a CCTV surveillance system within the Kaduna metropolis.
​The contract, valued at a reviewed sum of ₦8,682,574,054.94, was awarded to Singularity Network Security Limited. The ICPC maintains that the firm lacked the requisite technical experience, qualifications, and competence to execute the project, directly violating Nigeria’s public procurement laws.
​”The defendants knowingly received, possessed, and moved funds running into billions of naira through various shell corporate accounts between 2017 and 2022, which are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activity,” the ICPC stated in its filing.
​The multinational security contract probe lists several associated firms as co-defendants alongside El-Rufai and Lawal. These firms are Singularity Network Security Limited, Solar Life Nigeria Limited, Knowledge Investment Nigeria Limited, Intercellular Nigeria Limited and Noble Coast Resources Limited.
​The prosecution also named Bashir El-Rufai, described as an elder brother to the former governor, in one of the counts. Law enforcement officials noted that he is currently at large.
​During the court session on Thursday, both Mallam El-Rufai and Jimi Lawal pleaded not guilty to all 11 counts brought under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
​This CCTV surveillance case represents the third major criminal indictment brought against the former governor by the ICPC since March 2026. El-Rufai is already defending separate charges involving:
The alleged fraudulent disbursement of ₦11 billion to an unregistered entity for a Kaduna light rail project that was never executed and alleged inflation of official severance packages at the end of his gubernatorial terms.
​Following their “not guilty” pleas, defense counsels applied for bail for the accused. Justice Hauwa’u Buhari subsequently adjourned the matter until July 1, 2026, for a formal ruling on the bail applications, ordering that the legal parameters for their temporary release be finalized.
