Court Grants N100m Bail to Ex-Governor El-Rufai

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in the sum of N100 million following his arraignment on charges of alleged breach of national security.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, delivering the ruling on Monday, imposed a series of stringent conditions for the former governor’s release. These include monthly reporting to the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the surrender of all his international passports.

The court ruled that El-Rufai must produce one surety who resides in either Maitama or Asokoro in Abuja and owns landed property within the Federal Capital Territory. The surety is required to deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of the property with the court registry.

Justice Abdulmalik further directed that the surety must be a federal civil servant at Grade Level 17 or above, and must provide evidence of salary payments for at least three months. The salary records must also be authenticated by a bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.

In addition, the surety must swear an affidavit of means, execute a bail bond, and submit a recent passport photograph to the court registry.

The court also ordered El-Rufai to submit all valid international passports and to report to the DSS headquarters every last Friday of the month by 10am to sign an attendance register, pending the determination of the case. Justice Abdulmalik warned that any breach of the bail terms would lead to automatic revocation.

Further conditions require the former governor to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council, alongside a verification letter from the surety’s department and a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.

The ruling followed El-Rufai’s arraignment by the DSS on an amended five-count charge. The security agency had previously arraigned him before the same court on 23 April, where he pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.

At Monday’s proceedings, counsel for the DSS, Oluwole Aladedoye, informed the court that the prosecution had filed a further amended five-count charge and sought leave to substitute the earlier three-count charge.

One of the amended charges accuses El-Rufai of unlawfully intercepting the communications of Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser. According to the prosecution, the alleged offence stems from statements made by the former governor during an appearance on Arise Television on 13 February 2026. The prosecution argued that the act contravened Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024.

Following the amendment, the court struck out the earlier three-count charge and read the amended charges to El-Rufai, who again pleaded not guilty to all counts.

During proceedings, the defence drew the court’s attention to a pending bail application filed on 17 February, noting that a further affidavit initially declared missing from the court file was later found. The DSS told the court it was not opposing the bail application.

The defence team also filed an application seeking to quash the amended charges, arguing that the allegations lacked merit. The prosecution urged the court to dismiss the application.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter for further hearing while granting El-Rufai bail under the conditions set out.

Credit: Crimes Chroniclers