The Court’s CTC explains why el-Rufai’s bail request…

The Kaduna State High Court on Tuesday 21 April denied the bail application of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of the state.

Darius Khobo, the presiding judge, found it was in the interests of justice for el-Rufai to remain in custody to be available for trial.

The former governor was arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) on nine charges ranging from allegedly providing benefits under false pretenses and dishonestly disposing of loan funds.

el-Rufai, however, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Journalists were excluded from court proceedings, and journalists relied on information from lawyers to report problems.

TheCable reported that it has obtained the certified copy (CTC) of the ruling issued on April 21.

■ THE JUDGMENT

During the court proceedings, the judge said el-Rufai’s bail application was supported by a 24-paragraph affidavit filed by Muhammed Bala Aliyu.

The judge said el-Rufai had argued that the crimes were not capital, noting that he was a former governor with deep ties to the community.

Khobo added that el-Rufai claimed he returned voluntarily from Egypt, that the accusation is fundamentally incorrect and that his health condition requires specialist monitoring.

The judge said the ICPC opposed the bail application and filed a nine-paragraph counter affidavit dated April 13, filed by Idris Abubakar.

Khobo said the ICPC maintains that the crimes against el-Rufai are “economic sabotage” and that there is a “genuine fear of interference with witnesses and ongoing investigations involving other persons still at large.”

The ICPC said el-Rufai obstructed law enforcement at Abuja airport in February and that the former governor is “a flight risk with the means to evade prosecution due to his high position in society.”

The commission also said that “no medical evidence was provided to support the claim of ill health” by el-Rufai.

Ubong Akpan, el-Rufai’s lawyer, told the court that the defendant’s request for bail was “anchored primarily on constitutional and statutory presumptions in favor of liberty.”

ICPC lawyer Osuobeni Akponimisingha opposed the bail application, urging the court to give priority to the gravity of the alleged economic crimes and the risk of interference.

In his ruling, the judge said el-Rufai’s bail application “relies heavily” on his status as a former governor and former minister, adding that his “high status is a double-edged sword.”

The judge said the ICPC’s fear that el-Rufai’s release would sabotage ongoing investigations into other suspects still at large was “a weighty consideration.”

The judge found that the ICPC had given “strong submissions” in its counter affidavit to justify why the bail application should not be granted, adding that the applicant had not filed a further affidavit to counter the respondent.

“It is, however, worthy of note here that despite these important depositions in the counter affidavit of the prosecution/respondent which sought to contradict the depositions contained in the supporting affidavit of the applicant, the applicant never saw fit to file a further and improved affidavit to further challenge the said important depositions in the counter affidavit of the prosecution/respondent,” the judge said.

“In the present case, therefore, the applicant’s failure to submit a further affidavit to further counteract the important depositions outlined above in the respondent’s counter-affidavit leaves the said weighty depositions in the counter-affidavit unchallenged and deemed admitted as correct, and I believe so.

“The law is trivial: if in an application for bail pending trial there is good reason to believe or strongly suspect that the accused will skip bail, thereby making himself unavailable to stand trial, and/or interfere with witnesses, thereby constituting an obstruction in the path of justice, the Court will act within its undoubted discretion to refuse bail.

“In the present application, the appellant has referred to the fact that he has health conditions which require specialist monitoring, but the appellant has not attached any medical evidence to support his claim of ill health.

“The law is well settled that, where a bail application seeks to claim ill health, credible evidence in that branch of medicine should be made available to the court by the applicant.

“Accordingly, Respondent/Appellant’s request for bail pending trial is not denied and is hereby REFUSED.

“The accused/appellant will remain in the custody of the respondent (ICPC) pending the commencement of the trial.

“The defendant/prosecution is hereby directed to ensure that the trial of the defendant commences expeditiously and that this Court receives an expedited hearing on a daily basis wherever possible.”

Subsequently, the prosecutor and el-Rufai’s lawyer agreed that the trial would begin in the first week of June.

The case was then adjourned to 1, 2, 3 and 4 June 2026.

The CTC of the bail ruling, as obtained and published by TheCable, is posted below:

[Credit: TheCable]

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