An explosive courtroom revelation has sent shockwaves across the political landscape following explosive testimony claiming that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and several high-profile associates allegedly earmarked $600,000 in bribe money to compromise officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and key intermediaries.
The bombshell allegations emerged during a marathon eight-hour sitting before Justice Darius Khobo at the Kaduna State High Court in Kawo. Segun Kayode, a forensic investigator with the State Security Service (SSS) testifying as the prosecution’s first witness, revealed that intercepted audio recordings captured discussions detailing plans to deploy $500,000 and $100,000 payouts to derail ongoing anti-graft investigations.
According to Kayode, the recorded conversations centered heavily on desperate efforts to frustrate an EFCC probe into a firm identified as Singularity. The investigator explicitly named prominent figures allegedly linked to the recordings, including Senior Advocate of Nigeria A.U. Mustapha, Jimi Lawal, and Bashir El-Rufai.
Kayode told the court that Mustapha and Lawal were instructed to contact one Ahmadu Sule to retrieve a pre-existing corporate liquidation template. The plan, he testified, was to execute a swift, coordinated wind-down of Singularity across dual jurisdictions in Nigeria and Mauritius, where the entity was already under intense scrutiny by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). Furthermore, the witness alleged the recordings exposed deliberate strategies to shield IHS—a major telecommunications infrastructure firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange—from expanding EFCC investigations.
The prolonged court session, which stretched late into the evening from 12:26 pm to 8:18 pm, featured over two hours of live playback of the forensic audio files in open court.
The proceedings were not without intense procedural fireworks. Early in the trial, El-Rufai’s lead counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN), raised a fiery objection against Kayode taking the stand. Erokoro argued that neither the investigator’s name nor a summary of his evidence had been provided in the prosecution’s proof of evidence, asserting that the sudden introduction of a “surprise witness” breached his client’s constitutional right to a fair hearing.
Countering the objection, lead counsel for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), maintained that Kayode was a legally subpoenaed witness summoned directly under a court order issued on June 30, 2026. Adedipe reassured the court that the defense’s constitutional rights remained fully intact, as they would be granted ample opportunity to cross-examine the investigator on his testimony.
As the trial unfolds, all eyes remain fixed on the Kaduna High Court, where further cross-examination is expected to push the high-stakes political and legal drama into its next intense phase.
