Court Reserves Judgement on El-Rufai’s Bail Appeal

The Court of Appeal in Kaduna has reserved judgement in an appeal filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, challenging the Kaduna State High Court’s refusal of his bail application.

The presiding judge, Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, reserved judgement after hearing arguments from lawyers representing El-Rufai and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

The court did not, however, fix a date for delivering the judgement.

ICPC Opposes El-Rufai’s Bail Appeal

ICPC lead counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the Kaduna State High Court was right to refuse El-Rufai’s bail application.

Adedipe said the former governor filed three separate bail applications before the trial court, and all three were rejected.

According to him, the first application was dismissed, while the second was refused after El-Rufai failed to establish exceptional circumstances to justify another bail application.

The ICPC counsel said a third bail application was subsequently filed and also dismissed, but El-Rufai chose to appeal the ruling on the second application.

He argued that the former governor failed to disclose to the Court of Appeal that the third bail application had also been rejected.

Adedipe therefore described the appeal as unmeritorious and urged the appellate court to dismiss it.

El-Rufai’s Lawyer Seeks Bail

However, El-Rufai’s counsel, Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the court to overturn the lower court’s decision and grant his client bail pending determination of the charges against him. Erokoro argued that the offences for which El-Rufai was charged were bailable and were not capital offences.

He maintained that bail was a constitutional right except in capital offences and questioned the continued detention of his client. The senior lawyer also argued that El-Rufai’s detention was making it difficult for him to adequately prepare his defence.

According to Erokoro, the former governor’s continued custody had restricted his access to lawyers and witnesses and could affect confidential communication with his legal team.

He further described El-Rufai as a prominent opposition figure and argued that the timing of the criminal charges, coming close to the 2027 general elections, should be considered by the court.

Erokoro said he hoped the Court of Appeal would take a different position from the Kaduna State High Court and grant the former governor bail.

After listening to submissions from both sides, Justice Otisi reserved judgment in the appeal. No date was announced for the ruling.

El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, is facing corruption-related proceedings brought by the ICPC. The former governor has denied wrongdoing.