Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai secures a stringent N100 million bail from a Federal High Court following high-stakes allegations of a national security breach.
In a pivotal legal breakthrough that reshapes one of the country’s most high-profile trials, the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, a N100 million bail accompanied by one surety in a matching sum.
Presiding Justice Joyce Abdulmalik delivered the conditional ruling on Monday after the Department of State Services prosecutor, Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, chose not to oppose the formal bail application presented by El-Rufai’s defense counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN. While the defense successfully secured his temporary release, the court attached exceptionally rigid conditions to the bail package to ensure absolute compliance throughout the duration of the state’s prosecution.
To satisfy the court’s strict terms, the designated surety must be a senior federal civil servant holding a rank not lower than Grade Level 17 and must maintain a verified residence within the upscale Maitama or Asokoro districts of the federal capital.
Justice Abdulmalik mandated that this surety must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property into the court registry, alongside authenticated bank manager letters proving at least three months of consistent salary payments.
Furthermore, the guarantor is required to depose to a formal affidavit of means, sign a binding bail bond, provide a recent passport photograph, and submit a comprehensive tax clearance certificate spanning the last six months to complete the verification process.
The former governor faces equally demanding personal restrictions designed to track his movements and guarantee his appearance for the remainder of the legal battle.
El-Rufai was ordered to immediately surrender all of his valid international passports to the custody of the court registrar and must submit an official letter of attestation signed directly by the chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council. In an aggressive monitoring move, the judge directed the politician to report in person to the DSS headquarters on the last Friday of every single month at 10 a.m. to sign an official attendance register, explicitly warning that any lapse in compliance would trigger the automatic revocation of his freedom.
The underlying criminal case stems from a five-count further amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/99/2026, which accuses the political heavyweight of executing an unauthorized interception of the private telephone conversations of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. El-Rufai, who originally pleaded not guilty to the state’s security-breach allegations during his initial arraignment on April 23, had been temporarily shuttled between the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission – owing to a separate ongoing inquiry – and the DSS while awaiting this pivotal bail decision.
Signaling the high urgency of the national security matter, Justice Abdulmalik ordered an accelerated trial timeline, aggressively shifting the official commencement of the main trial proceedings to this afternoon.
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