THE FEDERAL High Court sitting in Kaduna on Tuesday adjourned hearing in the bail application filed by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, until March 31.
The presiding Judge, Justice Rilwanu Aikawa, fixed the date after listening to arguments from both the defence and prosecution on Tuesday.
El-Rufai was arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on a 10-count charge bordering on alleged conversion of public property and money laundering.
The former governor however, pleaded not guilty to all the charge.
Defence counsel, Ukpon Akpan, had earlier urged the court to his client grant bail to enable him prepare his defence.
However, the prosecution counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, opposed the application, arguing that granting bail could interfere with ongoing investigations.
Following the submissions, the court adjourned the matter to March 31 for the hearing of the bail application and ordered that the defendant remain in ICPC custody.
Speaking to journalists after the proceedings, defence counsel, Ubong Akpan, said the charges against his client largely relate to deposits into his domiciliary account and the monetisation of his earnings.
He described the court session as uneventful, noting that the adjournment was solely for the hearing of the bail application.
The ICPC charged El-Rufai with unlawful financial benefits and suspicious inflows into his bank accounts during his tenure as governor.
In Counts 1 and 2, the ICPC alleged that the former governor received ₦289.8 million as severance allowance in September 2020 and January 2023, far above the legally approved ₦20 million, which represents 300 per cent of his annual basic salary.
The prosecution alleges that he knew or reasonably ought to have known that the excess sum constituted proceeds of corruption, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Counts 3 to 9 detailed multiple foreign currency deposits into Mr El-Rufai’s Guaranty Trust Bank domiciliary account between 2016 and 2023.
These include 320,800 dollars allegedly paid in tranches by one Joel Adoga, as well as separate deposits ranging from 4,000 to 305,300 dollars from different individuals, some of whom are said to be at large.
The ICPC alleged that the funds were proceeds of corruption and fraud, which the defendant knowingly received while serving as a public officer.
In Count 10, the prosecution accused Mr El-Rufai and Mr Adoga of conspiring in July 2019 to disguise the origin of 10,000 dollars deposited into the former governor’s account, an act said to contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
El-Rufai has been in custody since Feb. 19, after he was released by the EFCC and subsequently taken into custody by the ICPC. (NAN)
