BREAKING: After 93 Days In Detention, Court Grants El-Rufai N100m Bail

BREAKING: After 93 Days In Detention

 

OpenLife Nigeria reports that the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday.

The bail was raised up to the sum of N100 million with one surety of like amount.

Delivering the ruling, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik stated that the surety must reside in either the Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy for a landed property at the court registry.

The court further directed that the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17 and provide evidence of salary payments for at least three months.

The documents are to be authenticated by a letter from the surety’s bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.

The bail is coming after the former Kaduna State Governor has spent approximately 93 days in detention since he was first taken into custody by anti-corruption authorities on February 16, 2026.

Charges

The former Kaduna State Governor is facing multiple, concurrent trials across state and federal courts involving financial crimes, abuse of office, and security breaches.

At the Kaduna State High Court, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arraigned El-Rufai on an amended nine-count charge. The allegations include:

• Conferring Undue Advantage: Approving inflated severance allowances while in office.
• Money Laundering: Receiving various undeclared foreign currency deposits—including tranches of  $155,800), $305,300), and $320,800) in his domiciliary account—allegedly connected to unlawful activities.
• Concealment of Funds: Conspiring with associates to disguise the illicit origins of state funds.

Separately, state court documents outline allegations of fraud regarding his administration’s expenditures. These include:

• Light Rail Project: Approving an multi billion contract to an unregistered company for a light rail project that was allegedly never executed.
• Contract Violations: Awarding multi-billion naira CCTV contracts in violation of public.

At the Federal High Court in Abuja, he is facing charges related to a national security breach. These accusations allege that he unlawfully intercepted communications (bugging) and embezzled public funds.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been granted bail in both state and federal courts under strict conditions, including multi-million naira bail bonds and the surrender of his international passports