The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on Tuesday arraigned former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, before the Federal High Court in Kaduna after 38 days in detention over alleged corruption-related offences.
El-Rufai was brought before Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa on a 10-count charge bordering on alleged conversion and possession of public property as well as money laundering.
The court subsequently fixed March 31, 2026, to hear pending applications, including a bail request by the former governor.
Counsel for El-Rufai, Ubong Akpan, who spoke with journalists after the proceedings, described the charges as largely relating to alleged deposits into his client’s domiciliary account and the monetisation of his earnings.
“Out of 10 counts, they joined him on only one,” Akpan said.
He disclosed that the defence raised objections to the arraignment on the grounds of a pending matter involving the presiding judge, but noted that the court proceeded regardless.
“What we have now is that they applied to arraign, and I respectfully pointed out that since Malam El-Rufai has a pending proceeding with respect to the judge himself, the court cannot proceed. However, the judge, in his wisdom, decided to go ahead with the arraignment,” he said.
Akpan added that the court adjourned the case to March 31 to take all pending applications.
Clarifying the issue of bail, the lawyer said no application was made during Tuesday’s proceedings.
“It cannot be made for bail today because the application was made for arraignment today. It was adjourned to the 31st of this month to hear the application for bail,” he explained.
The defence counsel also said he was unaware of other pending cases against his client until formally served. Meanwhile, the ICPC legal team declined comments when approached by journalists after the court session.
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