El-Rufai to remain in custody as court defers bail ruling

The Kaduna State High Court in Kaduna on Tuesday refused to grant former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s bail application.

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The trial judge, Darius Khobo, rather set a new date for ruling on the former governor’s bail application, according to the briefing PREMIUM TIMES received from sources that witnessed the proceedings. PREMIUM TIMES was not represented in court during Tuesday’s hearing.

Our reporter gathered that the court ordered Mr El-Rufai to remain in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which has detained him since February, pending the ruling.

The judge granted an accelerated hearing in the trial and set 1 to 4 June for trial.

Mr El-Rufai is standing trial before the judge on corruption charges, which stemmed from his activities as Kaduna State governor between May 2015 and May 2023.

On 13 April, the ICPC arraigned him on nine amended corruption charges. He denied all charges.

Shortly after Mr El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to the charges, the judge heard his bail application and subsequently fixed Tuesday (today) for ruling.

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Tuesday’s development comes exactly one week after another court granted Mr El-Rufai bail in respect of a separate corruption trial.

In his ruling delivered on 14 April, Judge Rilwanu Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna granted the former governor bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties, among other conditions.

But despite the earlier ruling granting him bail, Mr El-Rufai will remain in the ICPC custody based on Tuesday’s court order. The prospect of his release will remain uncertain until the court delivers its ruling on his pending bail application.

Mr El-Rufai, who has described his arrest, detention and prosecution as political persecution, faces nine corruption charges before the Kaduna State High Court. He faces 10 other charges at the Federal High Court in Kaduna. He has denied all charges at both courts.

Charges

ICPC amended the charges pending before the Kaduna State High Court shortly before Mr El-Rufai entered his plea on 14 April, removing the name of his former co-defendant from the case.

The anti-corruption agency said it removed the name of Amadu Suleiman, who is the Managing Director of TMDK Terminal Limited, from the charges due to his continued absence from court on medical grounds.

In the first count, the ICPC alleged that in December 2016, while serving as governor, Mr El-Rufai used false pretences to induce the Kaduna State Government to pay N11 billion to Indokaduna MRTS JV Nigeria Limited, described by the commission as an unregistered entity, for a light rail project that was never executed.

The commission said the alleged act contravenes the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The second count accuses him of using his office to confer a corrupt advantage on himself.

In the third count, the ICPC alleged that in January 2023, Mr El-Rufai received N289.8 million as severance allowance, far above the legally approved sum of about N20 million. It said he knew, or ought to have known, that the excess payment formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activity, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The fourth count alleges that between September 2017 and March 2023, he took control of $320,800 paid in tranches into his Guaranty Trust Bank domiciliary account by one Joel Adoga, funds the commission said were proceeds of corruption.

In the fifth count, the ICPC alleged that in May 2022, Mr El-Rufai received $155,800 into the same account from Peter Akagu Jones, said to be at large, and that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.

The sixth count accuses him of receiving $305,300 in May 2022 from Ajayi Ayodele under similar circumstances.

In the seventh and eighth counts, the ICPC alleged that he received $5,000 each in April and June 2016 from different individuals, which it said were proceeds of unlawful activity.

The commission also accused the former governor of receiving other sums in foreign currency and concealing their origin, following the amendment of the charge.

Federal High Court case

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.

READ ALSO: Court grants El-Rufai N200 million bail

ICPC said Mr El-Rufai, who served two terms as governor, 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.

In March, ICPC temporarily released him on compassionate grounds after the death of his mother.