The legal battle surrounding the detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, intensified yesterday as a Kaduna State High Court adjourned his bail hearing to the first week of June, ordering him to remain in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The presiding judge, Justice Darius Khobo, after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defence, ruled that the former governor should not be released on bail for now. The court’s decision was based on the prosecution’s argument that granting bail could undermine ongoing investigations, with Justice Khobo stating that, as a former governor, El-Rufai may interfere with the probe.

El-Rufai is standing trial on an amended nine-count charge of alleged fraud, abuse of office and corruption filed by the ICPC. The former governor has been in ICPC custody since February 19, 2026, after being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and then re-arrested by the ICPC. He was granted bail last week by a Federal High Court in Kaduna in a separate corruption case, with Justice Rilwanu Aikawa setting bail at ₦200 million and imposing strict conditions, including barring him from making public comments on the case. However, the former governor remains in ICPC custody because the Kaduna State High Court’s ruling supersedes the bail order in the parallel case.

The ICPC alleges that El-Rufai committed multiple financial infractions while in office. Count one of the charge accuses him of inducing the Kaduna State Government in 2016 to confer an N11 billion benefit on a company for a light rail project that was allegedly never executed. The commission also alleges that El-Rufai approved and received approximately N289.8 million as severance allowance, far above the legally entitled sum. Another count accuses him of mismanaging over $1.08 million, part of a World Bank loan, in violation of the loan agreement.

The prosecution further alleged that he conspired with an associate, who is reportedly at large, to offer monetary inducements to federal investigators in an attempt to compromise an ongoing probe involving a private firm. Other counts border on alleged violations of procurement laws in the award of a multi-billion-naira CCTV contract, conferring undue advantage on associates, and unlawful land allocations.

El-Rufai’s lead counsel, Ubong Akpan (SAN), expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s ruling and described the case as politically motivated. “From the beginning, everything about Nasir El-Rufai’s travails has always been political. This is mainly the legal arm of it,” he said. He added that the defence team would challenge the decision through appropriate legal channels.

The case has drawn significant public attention, with heightened security observed around the court premises, where a large crowd of supporters had gathered to show solidarity with the former governor. The trial is expected to proceed on a day-to-day basis when it resumes in June.

In a related development, El-Rufai is also pursuing a separate legal action, having filed a N1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit against the ICPC and other respondents over the alleged unlawful invasion of his Abuja residence.