The Federal High Court in Kaduna on Tuesday granted bail to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who has been in detention since February over corruption charges.
The trial judge, Rilwanu Aikawa, granted the former governor bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties.
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One of the two sureties must be a serving or retired federal government official not below Grade Level 15, while the other must be a recognised traditional ruler.
The judge added that both sureties are to submit their passports to the court.
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Mr El-Rufai was also directed not to make public comments relating to the case and must attend all court proceedings without fail.
But Mr Aikawa ordered that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) should continue to detain him until he meets his bail conditions.
The ICPC arraigned Mr El-Rufai alongside Joel Adoga, on corruption charges on 24 March.
Mr Adoga’s name appeared as a co-defendant in only one of the 10 counts.
They denied the charges.
On 1 April, the court heard Mr El-Rufai’s bail application and fixed today (Tuesday) for ruling.
Mr El-Rufai had been in ICPC custody since 18 February based on a prior court order, which was renewed following his arraignment on 24 March. He spent two days in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before being passed to the ICPC which will continue to hold him until he fulfils the court-imposed bail conditions.
Last month, ICPC released the former governor for a couple of days on compassionate grounds to enable him to mourn his mother’s passing and be part of her funeral rites. The gesture drew criticisms from lawyers and other members of the public who accused the ICPC of snubbing the court order remainding Mr El-Rufai till today.
Mr El-Rufai is facing another set of corruption charges before the Kaduna State High Court in Kaduna, where the ICPC arraigned him on Monday. He was arraigned on nine counts after the ICPC amended the charges to remove the name of his co-defendant from the case.
Charges
In the charges pending at the Federal High Court, ICPC accused Mr El-Rufai of fraudulently taking inflated severance pay of about N289.8 million at the end of each of his two terms in office.The charges said Mr El-Rufai was legitimately entitled to N20 million on each occasion.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Mr El-Rufai took the first N289.8 million in September 2020 – after completing his first term in office in May 2019 – and the second N289.8 million in January 2023 – months before the end of his second term in May 2023.
The pays totalled N579.7 million, instead of the about N40 million he was said to be entitled to for the two terms.
The commission added that each of the pays “represents 300% of your annual basic salary which you reasonably ought to have known that such fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: corruption.”
It said the offences were contrary to Section 18(2}(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition} Act, 2022.
In the other eight counts, ICPC accused Mr El-Rufai of receiving deposits of alleged proceeds of corruption and fraud totalling $817,900 in tranches in his Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) domiciliary account. He allegedly received the deposits while he was serving as the governor of Kaduna State.
ICPC said Mr El-Rufai, who served two terms as governor from May 2015 to May 2023, received the deposits in tranches, ranging from $4,000 to $320,800. He allegedly received the deposits in the same domiciliary account from various individuals between 2016 and March 2023.
His co-defendant, Mr Adoga, appeared as a defendant in only one out of the 10 counts. But the commission named him in another count as one of the persons who deposited money in Mr El-Rufai’s dollar domiciliary account.
ICPC rearrested Mr El Rufai on 18 February as soon as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) released him after two days of detaining him over corruption allegations.
PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier this month that the ICPC explained in a court filing that it was detaining Mr El-Rufai to conclude his investigation.
ICPC gave the explanation in a filing opposing a suit Mr El-Rufai filed the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging that his arrest and detention violated his fundamental rights. He asked the court to declare the actions of the anti-graft agencies unlawful and to award him N1 billion in damages.
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But the ICPC said it started investigating Mr El-Rufai after receiving a petition accusing him and officials of his administration of financial misconduct between 2015 and 2023.
The petition raised allegations relating to loans obtained by the Kaduna State Government, procurement processes, transfers from government accounts and payments to companies and individuals.
ICPC said it began preliminary investigations and obtained documents from banks and government institutions. It then issued an invitation letter dated 9 February.
Mr El-Rufai is also facing prosecution by the State Security Service (SSS) over alleged phone-tapping claims involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 23 April for his arraignment in that case.
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