Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, has appeared at the Kaduna State High Court, where his bail application is scheduled to be heard. He faces a nine-count charge, filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which includes allegations of fraud and abuse of office.
Journalists were reportedly denied access to the courtroom during the court session.
Sources close to the court indicated that the initial charges included both El-Rufai and one Amadu Sule. However, Sule was reportedly removed from the amended charge filed by the ICPC.
Confirming the development, defence counsel Ubong Akpan (SAN) informed journalists outside the court that the prosecution had amended the charges, thereby making El-Rufai the sole defendant.
Akpan further explained that the hearing could not commence as scheduled because the defence team received the amended charges only on the morning of the court session.
"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," Akpan stated.
He added, "We will analyse the charges and make our position known. For now, there is nothing we can do until we have fully reviewed them."
The presiding judge, Darius Khobo, has postponed the proceedings to April 14, setting it as the new date for the hearing of El-Rufai's bail application.
According to the details of the amended charge, the ICPC has accused El-Rufai of several alleged infractions during his tenure as governor.
Among the nine counts, the former governor is accused of allegedly influencing the Kaduna State Government to disburse approximately N11 billion to an entity that was not registered, for a light rail project that was reportedly never completed.
The commission also alleged that El-Rufai approved and received about N289.8 million as a severance allowance. This amount is said to be substantially higher than the legally prescribed N20 million, a move that allegedly conferred a corrupt advantage upon himself.
In another count, El-Rufai is accused of mismanaging over $1.08 million, a portion of a loan obtained by the state from the World Bank, in contravention of the loan agreement terms.
The ICPC further alleges that he collaborated with an associate, who is reportedly at large, to offer financial inducements to federal investigators in an attempt to obstruct an ongoing probe concerning a private firm.
Additional charges include the alleged unlawful awarding of a N4.6 billion contract for CCTV installation in Kaduna metropolis, bypassing established procurement laws, and conferring undue advantages on an associate through the same contract.
Nasir El-Rufai has denied all the accusations made against him. The case is anticipated to proceed with the hearing of his bail application.
Following this, he is expected to be transferred to the Federal High Court to face separate charges also filed by the ICPC.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to comment.
Be the first to comment on this article!