The Kaduna State High Court has adjourned to the first week of June its consideration of the bail application filed by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who faces a nine-count corruption and abuse of office charge brought by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, with the former governor’s legal team immediately and publicly condemning the postponement as politically motivated and announcing its intention to mount a formal legal challenge to the court’s approach to the bail question.
Presiding Judge Darius Khobo announced at the most recent sitting that the court would review the bail application and deliver a ruling during the first week of June, adding that the matter would be accorded accelerated hearing and prioritised on the court’s docket. However, the assurance of expedited treatment did little to satisfy a defence team that had been pressing for a bail ruling since the commencement of proceedings.
Defence counsel Ukpon Akpan expressed strong and sustained displeasure at what he characterised as the repeated and unjustified postponement of the bail application, describing the pattern of delay as driven by political considerations rather than legitimate legal or procedural reasons and indicating that the defence team had both the intention and the legal tools needed to formally challenge the court’s continued resistance to granting bail.
Akpan challenged the court’s stated rationale for withholding bail, which he said was premised on a concern that the former governor, given his status and connections as a former state chief executive, could interfere with ongoing investigations if released. He rejected this reasoning as both factually unfounded and legally unsustainable, arguing that it amounted to applying a punitive presumption against his client based on his former position rather than on any credible evidence of actual risk.
“The court in its wisdom decided that because Nasir El-Rufai is a former governor, he is going to interfere with the investigation. We respectfully disagree. The next step is to take the legal steps required to challenge the decision of the court. We will respond through the proper legal process. That is what the law requires,” he said.
Akpan described the prosecution as having carried unmistakable political undertones from its very inception, characterising the ICPC charges as the legal dimension of a broader political campaign against his client. He nonetheless counselled supporters and associates of the former governor to maintain calm, perspective, and confidence, urging them not to interpret the bail setback as a decisive blow to a legal battle that was far from over. The charges against El-Rufai cover nine counts relating to alleged corruption and abuse of office during his tenure as Kaduna State Governor, allegations that his legal team has consistently and vigorously denied.
