A Kaduna State High Court has fixed July 22 to hear former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s fresh application seeking the recusal of the judge presiding over his corruption trial.
The new application followed the withdrawal of three earlier recusal motions after El-Rufai’s lead counsel, Paul Erokoro, distanced himself from the filings, saying they contained combative language and extraneous matters that he could neither identify with nor adopt.
The matter, instituted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), had been scheduled for the hearing of the defendant’s application seeking the recusal of the trial judge.
At the commencement of proceedings on Friday, lead prosecuting counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe, informed the court that although the matter had been fixed to hear the recusal application filed on July 6, 2026, the defence had, between the last adjourned date and Wednesday’s proceedings, submitted three separate applications seeking the judge’s recusal.
He added that one of the applications was only served on the prosecution shortly before the court commenced sitting on July 15.
Responding, Erokoro told the court that the three applications had been filed by junior defence counsel, Ubong Akpan, without his endorsement.
He said he could not identify with or adopt the applications because they contained combative language and irrelevant matters. He therefore sought the court’s leave to file a fresh application and undertook to withdraw the earlier motions.
The prosecution did not oppose the request for an adjournment, stating that it was in the interest of ensuring a fair hearing.
Following the agreement of both parties, the court adjourned the case to July 22, 2026, when it will hear the fresh application seeking the trial judge’s recusal.
The substantive criminal trial stems from charges filed by the ICPC accusing El-Rufai of abuse of office, diversion of public funds and other corruption-related offences allegedly committed during his tenure as governor of Kaduna State.
The anti-corruption agency reiterated its commitment to diligently prosecuting the case in accordance with the law, as proceedings continue before the Kaduna State High Court.