A Kaduna State High Court Schedules Hearing for El-Rufai's Bail
The Kaduna State High Court is set to hear the bail application for former governor Nasir El-Rufai on Tuesday, April 14. This decision follows El-Rufai's arraignment on an amended nine-count charge related to alleged fraudulent activities and abuse of office.
El-Rufai arrived at the court on Monday around 9 am, accompanied by officials from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and members of the Department of State Services (DSS). Journalists were restricted from entering the courtroom, preventing coverage of the proceedings.
Insiders at the court revealed that the original charges included El-Rufai and Amadu Sule; however, the updated charges have removed Sule as a defendant. Defence counsel Ubong Akpan (SAN) confirmed this change, stating that the prosecution presented the amended charges during the court session.
“We received the charges this morning in court, and they are entirely new to us,” Akpan remarked after the session. “This is why we could not proceed with the case today. We need time to analyze the charges before proceeding further.”
The presiding judge, Darius Khobo, adjourned the court hearing to April 14 to address the bail application for El-Rufai.
The amended charges indicate that the ICPC has accused El-Rufai of several infractions during his tenure as governor, including:
- Inducing the Kaduna State Government to allocate approximately N11 billion to an unregistered entity for a non-existent light rail project.
- Approving and receiving about N289.8 million as part of a severance package, which greatly exceeded the legal entitlement of approximately N20 million.
- Mismanaging over $1.08 million linked to a World Bank loan, violating the terms of the loan agreement.
- Allegedly conspiring with an associate, currently unaccounted for, to bribe federal investigators to influence an ongoing probe related to a private firm.
- The unlawful awarding of a N4.6 billion contract for CCTV installation without adherence to procurement regulations, offering undue advantage to an associate.
El-Rufai has vehemently denied all accusations against him. The upcoming court session is anticipated to provide further developments regarding his bail application as the case unfolds.