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Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday granted bail to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in his trial for alleged national security offences.
The judge granted bail to the former governor after the lawyer for the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), did not oppose the bail application filed by the defense lawyer, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN).
He granted El-Rufai bail of N100 million with one surety in the same amount.
Justice Abdulmalik, in his ruling, ordered that the guarantor, who must reside in Maitama or Asokoro Districts in Abuja, must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of the landed property with the court registration office.
The judge said the guarantor must be a federal civil servant not below Grade 17 and must provide proof of payment of wages for at least three months.
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He ordered that the evidence be proven by a letter from the head of the bank in the court’s jurisdiction.
He further ordered the guarantor to submit a statement of assets, enter a surety bond and submit a recent passport photo to the court registration office.
Judge Abdulmalik also ordered El-Rufai to deposit all of his valid international passports with the court clerk.
He directed that a verification letter from the guarantor’s direct department be submitted, along with a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.
The judge also ordered the former governor to report to the DSS headquarters every last Friday of the month at 10:00 am to sign the attendance register pending the decision of the case.
He warned that failure to comply would result in automatic revocation of bail.
DSS in the amended indictment marked: FHC/ABJ/99/2026, filed a five-count criminal complaint against the former governor.
El-Rufai, who was indicted on April 23 for allegedly tapping the telephone conversations of National Security Advisor (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The judge ordered that the accused, who was taken from the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) in connection with a separate case, be returned to DSS custody pending a decision on his bail application.
