Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, has filed a preliminary objection the suit of wiretapping filed against him by the Department of State Services at the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja of Nigeria.
El-Rufai through his legal team is challenging the constitutionality and competence of the charge brought against him by the DSS and urging the court to dismiss the charge on several grounds.
In the application, El-Rufai argued that the suit is fundamentally defective and unknown to the law, stressing that the charge was initiated by the Department of State Services which he insisted is not a legal entity recognised under the Nigerian law.
The legal team also argued that the charge, as framed, seriously violates El-Rufai’s constitutional right against self-incrimination.
El-Rufai, through his lawyers argued that the secret police was established by statute under the National Security Agencies Act is the State Security Service (SSS), and not the DSS.
The legal team contended that any charge purportedly filed in the name of the DSS is therefore incompetent and void, stressing that even if properly constituted, the agency lacks prosecutorial powers to institute criminal proceedings thereby rendering the charge invalid.
The lawyers also stressed that the charge does not disclose any offence known to the law and is therefore incurably defective.
El-Rufai through his legal team also noted that the particulars of the alleged offences were not provided, thereby denying the defendant adequate information required to prepare a defence.
The court is expected to fix a date for the hearing of the arguments on the preliminary objection as the outcome of the application could determine whether the substantive charge is to proceeds for trial or would be struck out.
