El-Rufai: Court Reserves Judgment On Ex-Kaduna Gov’s Bail Appeal

The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna has reserved judgment in former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s appeal challenging the refusal of his bail application by the Kaduna State High Court, Naija News reports.

The appellate court reached the decision after hearing arguments from lawyers representing El-Rufai and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The presiding judge, Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, did not give a date for the delivery of the judgment.

The ICPC, through its lead counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe, asked the court to dismiss El-Rufai’s appeal, insisting that the Kaduna State High Court was right to refuse his request for bail.

Adedipe told the court that El-Rufai had made three separate bail applications before the trial court, all of which were rejected.

According to him, the first application was dismissed, while the second was also rejected after the former governor failed to present any exceptional circumstances to justify another application.

He said the third bail application was later filed and equally dismissed, but El-Rufai chose to appeal the ruling on the second application.

The ICPC lawyer argued that El-Rufai failed to inform the Court of Appeal that his third bail application had also been rejected.

He therefore described the appeal as lacking merit and urged the appellate court to dismiss it.

However, counsel to El-Rufai, Paul Erokoro, SAN, asked the court to overturn the decision of the lower court and grant his client bail pending the determination of the charges against him.

Erokoro argued that the offences for which El-Rufai was charged were bailable and did not carry the death penalty.

He maintained that there was no justification for keeping his client in custody, adding that bail was a constitutional right except in capital offences.

The senior lawyer also argued that El-Rufai’s continued detention in ICPC custody was making it difficult for him to properly prepare his defence.

According to him, the former governor’s detention had affected his access to lawyers and witnesses and could also interfere with confidential communication between him and his legal team.

Erokoro further described El-Rufai as a prominent opposition figure and argued that the timing of the criminal charges, coming close to an election, was significant.

He said the defence team remained hopeful that the Court of Appeal would take a different position from the High Court and grant the former governor bail.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Otisi reserved judgment in the appeal.

The court, however, did not announce a date for the delivery of the judgment.