Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai arrived at the Federal High Court in Kaduna on Wednesday under tight security for the scheduled hearing and ruling on his bail application, as proceedings in one of Nigeria’s most closely watched corruption trials continued to unfold amid a series of legal complications.
The ICPC spokesperson, John Odey, confirmed that El-Rufai would be attending Wednesday’s court session from the commission’s facility, following the adjournment of his bail application on Tuesday. Justice Rilwan Aikawa had adjourned the matter to Wednesday, April 1, specifically for both the hearing and determination of the bail application.
Tuesday’s session had been marked by a series of legal manoeuvres that prevented the hearing from proceeding as scheduled. During proceedings on Tuesday, defence counsel Ukpong Akpan filed a motion requesting that Justice Aikawa recuse himself from the case, citing alleged bias and a pending petition against him before the National Judicial Council. However, the defence later filed another motion seeking to withdraw the same recusal application. The court accepted the withdrawal. The court was further unable to proceed with the bail hearing because the prosecution had only just filed its counter-affidavit in response to El-Rufai’s bail request.
Before arriving at the Federal High Court on Tuesday, El-Rufai had first been taken to the Kaduna State High Court sitting in Kawo, where he faced a separate set of ICPC charges alongside co-defendant Amadu Sule, covering allegations of abuse of office, fraud, intent to commit fraud, and conferring undue advantage. That hearing was also adjourned to April 10, 2026, after Sule failed to appear in court due to reported ill health.
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El-Rufai has been in ICPC detention since February 18, 2026. The commission arraigned him and his co-defendant Joel Adoga on 10 corruption charges on March 24, and the trial judge ordered both defendants remanded in ICPC custody pending the bail hearing. The ICPC released El-Rufai temporarily on March 27 so he could attend his mother’s funeral, following the death of Hajiya Ummar El-Rufai in Cairo, Egypt. Her body was laid to rest in Abuja on the same day.
In the charges before the Federal High Court, the ICPC accused El-Rufai of fraudulently taking inflated severance pay of approximately N289.8 million at the end of each of his two terms as governor, instead of the N20 million he was legally entitled to on each occasion. In the remaining counts, the commission alleged he received deposits totalling $817,900 in tranches into a Guaranty Trust Bank domiciliary account while serving as governor between 2016 and March 2023.
El-Rufai has pleaded not guilty to all charges. A ruling on his bail application was expected from Justice Aikawa on Wednesday, with the outcome likely to determine whether he remains in ICPC custody as the trial proceeds.