The Federal Excessive Courtroom has granted bail to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, following his detention over corruption fees filed by the Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee (ICPC).
The ruling marks a serious improvement within the ongoing trial. It comes amid rising public consideration on the case.
As of the time of submitting this report, the precise circumstances hooked up to the bail had been but to be disclosed.
The choice adopted his court docket look earlier within the day beneath heavy safety. Proceedings came about amid tight restrictions, reflecting the high-profile nature of the case. Safety presence across the court docket premises was visibly elevated.
Earlier experiences indicated that journalists had been denied entry to the courtroom throughout proceedings. This transfer sparked concern amongst observers and raised questions on transparency within the trial.
The case had earlier suffered a setback. This was after the prosecution launched an amended nine-count cost in opposition to the previous governor. The recent fees considerably altered the construction of the case.
Initially, the fees had been filed in opposition to El-Rufai and one Amadu Sule. Nevertheless, the amended submitting eliminated Sule as a co-defendant. This left the previous governor as the only accused within the matter.
Reacting to the event on the time, his counsel, Ubong Akpan (SAN), expressed shock. He stated the defence staff was not given prior discover earlier than the brand new fees had been launched in court docket.
“The fees are fully new to us. They got to us this morning whereas we had been already in court docket. That’s the reason the matter couldn’t proceed,” Akpan had stated.
Following the event, Justice Darius Khobo adjourned the case to April 14, 2026, to listen to the bail software. That software has now resulted within the court docket granting bail.
The allegations in opposition to El-Rufai are in depth. They relate to his time in workplace as governor of Kaduna State. One of many main claims is that he authorized the discharge of about N11 billion to an unregistered firm for a light-weight rail challenge that was by no means executed.
The ICPC additionally alleged that the previous governor authorized and acquired about N289.8 million as severance allowance. This quantity is alleged to be above what’s legally allowed.
Different allegations embrace the dealing with of over $1.08 million linked to a World {Bank} mortgage. The anti-corruption company additional accused him of breaching procurement legal guidelines within the award of a N4.6 billion CCTV contract in Kaduna metropolis.
He’s additionally accused of conspiring with an affiliate to bribe federal investigators.
El-Rufai has denied all of the allegations. He insists that he acted inside the regulation throughout his time in workplace.
In a associated case, Politics Nigeria earlier reported that the previous governor is dealing with a separate 10-count cost earlier than one other division of the Federal Excessive Courtroom. The fees in that case border on alleged cash laundering, in addition to conversion and possession of public property.