El-Rufai back in ICPC custody as 10-count corruption trial is adjourned to Wednesday

The Federal High Court in Kaduna postponed the corruption trial involving the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, until Wednesday, April 1st. This is so they can hear his bail application.

El-Rufai is being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for 10 counts related to corruption allegations.

He had been held by the ICPC since February 19th until he was temporarily released on March 28th. This release was on compassionate grounds after his mother passed away in Cairo, Egypt last Friday. She was laid to rest in Abuja on Sunday.

The court took a brief session before the adjournment, during which the defense lawyers asked the judge, Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa, to step aside. They claimed he might be biased and mentioned a pending petition against him.

However, the defense team later filed another motion to withdraw their request asking the judge to recuse himself.

The court then set Wednesday as the day for hearing the bail application. This came after the lawyer representing the prosecution let the court know that a counter affidavit had just been filed.

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Earlier on, before he was due at the Federal High Court, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) had actually put El-Rufai on trial at the Kaduna State High Court. They did this alongside a businessman named Amadu Sule, accusing them both of abusing their positions, fraud, attempting fraud, and giving undue advantage to others.

The judge in charge, Justice Darius Khobo, pushed the trial date back to April 10th.

El-Rufai's lawyer, Ukpong Abang, didn't want to comment on what was happening in either court. He explained that there were still more legal steps being taken and more documents needed to be filed.

Also, reporters weren't allowed into the courtrooms while the hearings were taking place.

Security around the court buildings was really tight. Armed officers were posted along the Anguwan Sarki to Kawo Road because part of the road was blocked off, which caused terrible traffic jams. 

This left people trying to get around stuck, especially since fuel prices are already so high.

Earlier today, Nasir El-Rufai argued that Nigeria’s persistent economic underperformance was rooted not in a lack of talent or capital, but in the misallocation of its brightest minds.

El-Rufai diaclosed this as he continued to face legal battles and detention over alleged graft.

In a lengthy post shared on his verified Facebook page on Wednesday morning, April 1, El-Rufai described Nigeria as “a paradox,” noting that despite possessing “extraordinary human capital—energetic, inventive, resilient,” the country continued to record weak productivity, shallow growth, and limited prosperity.