The Court of Appeal in Kaduna has reserved judgment in an appeal by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, challenging the refusal of his bail application by the state High Court.
A three-member panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi reserved judgment on Tuesday after hearing arguments from counsel representing El-Rufai and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The appellate court did not announce a date for the delivery of its judgment.
Counsel to the ICPC, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the High Court was right to reject El-Rufai’s request for bail.
Adedipe told the court that El-Rufai had made three separate applications for bail before the trial court, all of which were rejected.
He said the first application was dismissed, while the second was also refused after the former governor failed to demonstrate any exceptional circumstance warranting another bail application.
According to him, a third application was subsequently filed and rejected by the High Court, but El-Rufai appealed against the ruling on the second application.
The ICPC counsel further argued that the former governor failed to inform the Court of Appeal that his third bail application had also been dismissed.
He consequently described the appeal as unmeritorious and asked the court to uphold the decision of the lower court.
However, El-Rufai’s counsel, Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the appellate court to set aside the High Court’s decision and admit his client to bail pending the determination of the charges against him.
Erokoro argued that the offences for which El-Rufai was being prosecuted were bailable and did not attract the death penalty.
He maintained that there was no legal basis for keeping the former governor in custody when the charges against him were not capital offences.
The Senior Advocate also argued that continued detention was hampering El-Rufai’s ability to prepare his defence effectively.
According to him, the former governor’s detention had limited his access to his lawyers and potential witnesses, thereby affecting the confidentiality and effectiveness of consultations with his legal team.
Erokoro said access to counsel and witnesses was essential to the preparation of an effective defence and argued that prolonged detention could undermine El-Rufai’s constitutional right to a fair trial.
The defence counsel also urged the court to consider the political circumstances surrounding the case, noting that the charges against El-Rufai were being pursued close to the 2027 general elections.
He described his client as a prominent opposition figure and argued that the timing of the prosecution was significant.
“It is not surprising that criminal charges are being brought against a prominent opposition figure close to an election,” Erokoro said.
He urged the Court of Appeal to depart from the position of the High Court and grant El-Rufai bail.
El-Rufai, who served as Kaduna governor 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 the allegations and challenged the circumstances surrounding his continued detention.
The prosecution has maintained that the case is before the courts and that El-Rufai should remain in custody in accordance with the law.
After listening to the submissions of both parties, the Court of Appeal reserved judgment without fixing a date for its delivery.
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