The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna on Tuesday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai challenging the refusal of his bail application by the Kaduna State High Court.
A three-member panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi reserved the judgment after hearing arguments from lawyers representing El-Rufai and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The court did not fix a date for delivery of the ruling.Speaking after the session, ICPC lead counsel Ayodeji Adedipe urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal.
He argued that the High Court was right to refuse El-Rufai bail.Adedipe told the court that the former governor had filed three separate bail applications before the trial court, all of which were refused.
He explained that the first was dismissed, while the second was rejected after El-Rufai failed to show any exceptional circumstances to justify another application.
A third application was also dismissed, but El-Rufai chose to appeal the ruling on the second one.
The ICPC counsel further argued that El-Rufai failed to disclose to the Court of Appeal that the third application had equally been refused. He described the appeal as “unmeritorious” and asked the court to dismiss it.
Counsel to El-Rufai, Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the appellate court to overturn the lower court’s decision and grant his client bail pending the determination of the charges against him.
Erokoro argued that the offences for which El-Rufai was charged are bailable and not capital offences.
“Bail is a constitutional right except in capital offences. There is no justification for keeping the applicant in custody when the offences for which he is standing trial are bailable,” he said.
He maintained that continued detention was making it difficult for El-Rufai to adequately prepare his defence, restricting his access to lawyers and witnesses and potentially affecting confidential communication with his legal team.
Erokoro also described El-Rufai as a prominent opposition figure, noting that the timing of the criminal charges close to the 2027 general elections should be considered by the court.
El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, is being prosecuted by the ICPC over alleged financial offences arising from his administration.
He has denied wrongdoing.After hearing submissions from both sides, Justice Otisi reserved judgment without fixing a date for its delivery.
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