UPDATED: Court sets date for ruling on El-Rufai's bail application

The Federal High Court in Kaduna has set April 14 for ruling on former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s bail application.

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The judge, Rilwan Aikawa, adjourned for ruling after hearing the defence and prosecution lawyers’ submissions on the bail application on Wednesday.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has detained Mr El-Rufai since 18 February but released him temporarily for a few days after his mother died on Friday.

The former governor returned to custody after the deceased’s body was laid to rest in Abuja on Sunday.

ICPC is prosecuting him on corruption charges, including taking inflated severance pays after completing his first and second terms as governor in 2019 and 2023.

The agency also accused him of receiving suspicious payments in his domiciliary dollar accounts for years while serving as governor.

The alleged fraudulent severance pays totalled N579.7 million while suspicious deposits amounted to $817,900.

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Bail hearing

At Wednesday’s hearing, Mr El-Rufai’s lawyer, Oluwole Iyamu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the Federal High Court in Kaduna to grant the former governor bail, arguing that it is his constitutional right.

The lawyer stressed that Mr El-Rufai has strong ties to Nigeria and poses no flight risk.

However, the prosecution opposed the application, warning that granting the former governor bail could give him an opportunity to influence witnesses or interfere with ongoing investigations.

After listening to both sides, the judge set 14 April for ruling.

Wednesday’s proceedings saw heightened deployment of security personnel within and around the court premises, a feature that has become characteristic of Mr El-Rufai’s appearance before the court since the first time on 24 March.

Speaking to journalists after Wednesday’s proceedings, defence lawyer, Mr Iyamu, said his team was prepared for the phone tapping charges filed against Mr El-Rufai at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The former Kaduna State governor has been scheduled to be arraigned before the court on 10 April.

ICPC’s spokesperson, John Oddy, also confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Mr El-Rufai was returned to the agency’s custody after Wednesday’s proceedings.

“The man is in our custody… He is with us,” Mr Oddy said of Mr El-Rufai’s continued detention by the ICPC.

Background

The ICPC arraigned him and his co-defendant, Joel Adoga, before the Federal High Court in Kaduna on 10 corruption charges on 24 March.

The judge then ordered the defendants’ remand in ICPC custody and initially set Tuesday for the hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.

ICPC agents produced Mr El-Rufai in court for scheduled hearing on Tuesday, his first court appearance after the agency granted him conditional bail for him to attend his mother’s burial on Sunday.

The body of his mother, Ummar El-Rufai, who died in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday, was laid to rest in Abuja on Sunday.

It was learnt that Mr El-Rufai returned to ICPC custody after the burial ahead of the hearing of his bail application, which was initially scheduled for Tuesday.

However, Tuesday’s proceedings stalled over some preliminary issues, prompting the judge to postpone the hearing until today (Wednesday).

PREMIUM TIMES reported that ICPC agents took him back into custody on Tuesday to produce him on Wednesday.

ICPC is not the only government agency going after Mr El-Rufai.

He faces numerous criminal charges and ongoing investigations by the ICPC, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC detained Mr El-Rufai for two days before releasing him on 18 February to the ICPC shortly after granting him bail.

The SSS also filed against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja, which has already set 10 April for his arraignment.

The prosecution charged Mr El-Rufai in the case over his claim of tapping National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu’s phone call in February.

Even the ICPC, which has already filed two sets of charges against him at the Federal High Court and the State High Court (both in Kaduna), claims its investigations into him are ongoing.