Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Kaduna State High Court has deferred the bail hearing of former Governor Nasir El Rufai to the first week of June 2026, prolonging the legal uncertainty surrounding the opposition political figure. Justice Darius Khobo announced the adjournment on Tuesday following the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) filing of an amended nine-count charge against El Rufai. The former governor, who served as the Governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023 and is currently a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), now faces a revised set of allegations that shift the prosecution’s focus from money laundering to claims of fraud, corruption, abuse of office, and procurement breaches.
The adjournment effectively means El Rufai will remain in the custody of the ICPC until at least early June, when the court is expected to hear arguments on whether to grant him bail. The former governor arrived at the courthouse around 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday in a convoy escorted by ICPC officials and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS). Outside the courtroom, a crowd of his supporters gathered, singing solidarity songs and carrying placards, while security agencies maintained a heavy presence to prevent any disruption.
Speaking to journalists after the brief court session, El Rufai’s lead counsel, Ukpon Akpan, criticised the repeated delays in determining his client’s bail status, describing the lingering adjournment as “politically motivated.” He expressed concern that the prolonged pre-trial detention was unfair, especially given the defence team’s limited time to review the newly amended charges. “The charges are entirely new to us. They were given to us this morning while we were already in court. That is why the matter could not proceed to a hearing,” Akpan said. He added that the defence would analyse the new allegations thoroughly before taking a position.
The amended charge, marked KDH/KAD/ICPC/01/2026, represents a significant shift in the ICPC’s prosecution strategy. The commission had originally arraigned El Rufai on a 10-count charge centred on money laundering allegations involving foreign currency domiciliary accounts. That earlier case, filed under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, alleged that El Rufai possessed and controlled suspicious funds in a Guaranty Trust Bank account. However, the newly filed nine-count charge drops all money laundering counts and instead focuses on allegations of corrupt governance decisions. The amended charge also lists El Rufai as the sole defendant, after the prosecution withdrew a co-accused businessman.
Among the most serious allegations in the new charge, count one accuses El Rufai of inducing the Kaduna State Government in 2016 to confer an N11 billion benefit on Indokaduna MRTS JV Nigeria Limited for a light rail project that was allegedly never executed. This charge is brought under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006. Counts two and three allege that El Rufai used his position as governor to approve and receive approximately N289.8 million in severance benefits, far exceeding his legally approved entitlement of about N20 million. In count four, the ICPC alleges that El Rufai dishonestly disposed of over $1 million, which was part of a World Bank loan to Kaduna State, in violation of the terms of the loan agreement. Additional counts include allegations of conspiring with others still at large to offer inducements to federal investigators to compromise an ongoing probe, breaches of procurement laws in the award of a multi-billion naira CCTV contract in Kaduna metropolis, unlawful land allocations, and conferring undue advantage on associates.
The legal troubles for El Rufai, who ran for president in 2023 under the platform of the now-defunct Social Democratic Party, began in earnest earlier this year. He was first taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 16, 2026, after honouring an invitation. After 48 hours, he was transferred to the custody of the ICPC, where he remained for several weeks. On March 24, 2026, he was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Kaduna alongside a co-defendant, Joel Adoga, on separate 10-count charges of fraud and money laundering, to which both pleaded not guilty. El Rufai was later granted bail by that court in the sum of N200 million on April 14, 2026. However, the ICPC case before the State High Court has progressed separately, with the anti-corruption agency filing its amended charges on April 10 and securing the court’s order for El Rufai to remain in its custody pending the bail ruling.
The former governor was previously released from ICPC custody on compassionate grounds in late March to attend the burial of his mother, Hajiya Halima El Rufai. He returned to custody shortly after the funeral. The legal battles have cast a shadow over El Rufai’s recent political realignment. After leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the 2023 elections, he formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in March 2026, aligning himself with a coalition of opposition figures seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections. His continued detention and the serious nature of the fraud allegations could complicate his political ambitions and the ADC’s plans.
The Kaduna State High Court has yet to fix a specific date for the bail hearing in June. The case has drawn significant public and political attention, given El Rufai’s high profile and the serious nature of the allegations against him. As the former governor awaits his next court date from ICPC custody, his legal team has vowed to fight the charges, setting the stage for a protracted legal battle that will test the strength of Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework.
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