Rufai’s Bail Fight Takes New Turn as Appeal Court Reserves Judgment

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

A three-member panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi reserved judgment on Tuesday after hearing arguments from lawyers representing El-Rufai and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The court, however, did not announce a date for the delivery of its judgment.

Counsel to the ICPC, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the lower court was right to refuse El-Rufai’s bail application.

Adedipe told journalists after the proceedings that El-Rufai had filed three separate bail applications before the trial court, all of which were rejected.

According to him, the former governor’s first application was dismissed, while the second was also rejected after he failed to establish any exceptional circumstance to justify a fresh application.

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He added that a third bail application was subsequently filed and equally dismissed by the trial court.

The ICPC counsel argued that El-Rufai failed to disclose the outcome of the third application to the Court of Appeal, describing the appeal as unmeritorious.

However, El-Rufai’s counsel, Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the court to overturn the lower court’s decision and grant his client bail pending the determination of the charges against him.

Erokoro argued that the offences against the former governor were bailable and not capital offences.

He maintained that continued detention was making it difficult for El-Rufai to adequately prepare his defence, particularly by restricting his access to lawyers and potential witnesses.

The Senior Advocate further argued that continued detention could affect confidential communication between El-Rufai and his legal team and potentially prejudice his right to a fair trial.

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Erokoro also urged the court to consider El-Rufai’s status as a prominent opposition figure and the proximity of the charges to the 2027 general elections.

El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, is being prosecuted by the ICPC alongside some former officials of his administration over alleged financial offences.

The former governor has denied wrongdoing and challenged the circumstances surrounding his continued detention.

After listening to submissions from both sides, the appellate court reserved judgment without fixing a date for its delivery.