The Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee (ICPC) has intensified its authorized battle towards the previous Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, by submitting an amended nine-count cost.
The up to date costs, which give attention to allegations of high-level corruption and {financial} misconduct, had been introduced throughout a session on the Kaduna State Excessive Courtroom on Monday.
The authorized panorama of the trial shifted considerably because the prosecution determined to drop costs towards one of many authentic defendants. This transfer has left El-Rufai to face the trial as the only real defendant.
His lead counsel, Ukpong Abang, briefed the press following the courtroom session, noting that the protection was blindsided by the timing of the brand new costs.
Abang defined that the authorized group acquired the amended paperwork simply because the courtroom was about to start its sitting. “The fees are fully new to us. They got to us this morning whereas we had been already in courtroom. That’s the reason the matter couldn’t proceed to a listening to,” he remarked.
Resulting from this late improvement, the protection group requested time to scrutinize the counts to arrange an acceptable response.
In the course of the proceedings, the courtroom took the previous governor’s plea and thought of his software for bail. The prosecution, nevertheless, has raised objections to the bail request, main Justice Darius Khobo to schedule a ruling on the matter for Tuesday, April 14.
The specifics of the costs, marked below go well with KDH/KAD/ICPC/01/2026, paint an image of alleged systemic abuse of workplace. In one of the substantial counts, the ICPC claims that in 2016, El-Rufai influenced the state authorities to pay N11bn to Indokaduna MRTS JV Nigeria Restricted for a lightweight rail challenge that was by no means accomplished.
Different allegations embody the unauthorized approval of N289.8m in severance pay for himself—a determine far exceeding the legally mandated N20m—and the suspicious dealing with of over $1m from a World {Bank} mortgage meant for state improvement.
Moreover, the anti-graft company accused the previous governor of trying to compromise federal investigators by inducements and violating procurement legal guidelines relating to a multi-billion-naira CCTV contract.
These new costs observe his preliminary arraignment alongside businessman Amadu Sule, although the present modification focuses solely on El-Rufai’s actions throughout his eight-year tenure.
Recall, this newest courtroom look comes on the heels of one other authorized hurdle for the previous governor. Solely weeks in the past, El-Rufai was arraigned earlier than a Federal Excessive Courtroom in Kaduna on separate 10-count costs involving cash laundering and the alleged illegal possession of over $797,000 in his personal domiciliary accounts.