Kaduna court adjourns el-Rufai’s bail hearing to June

The Kaduna state high court has adjourned the hearing on the bail application of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of the state, to the first week of June 2026.

Darius Khobo, the trial judge, postponed the bail hearing on Tuesday.

The defendant arrived the court on Tuesday morning alongside operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Services (DSS).

Channels Television reported that while speaking with journalists after the court session, Ukpon Akpan, counsel to el-Rufai, kicked against the repeated adjournment of the bail hearing by the presiding judge, describing it as politically motivated.

On April 14, Khobo had adjourned verdict on the bail application to April 21, 2026.

On April 13, ICPC arraigned el-Rufai at the Kaduna high court on an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office.

The anti-graft agency removed Amadu Sule, the other defendant, from the amended case.

In another criminal charge at the federal high court in Kaduna, the former minister was granted N200 million bail by Rilwani Aikawa.

El-Rufai has been in the custody of the ICPC since February 19, after he was released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On March 27, he was released on compassionate grounds after his mother passed on.