The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna has reserved judgement in an appeal filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai challenging the refusal of his bail application by the Kaduna State High Court. Hon. Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, who presided over the court sitting, reserved judgement after hearing arguments from counsel to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and El-Rufai. The lead council of the ICPC, Ayodeji Adedipe, while briefing newsmen shortly after the court session, said he urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the Kaduna State High Court was right to refuse El-Rufai’s bail application. Adedipe said the former governor had filed three separate bail applications before the trial court, all of which were refused. He explained that the first application was dismissed, while the second was also rejected after El-Rufai failed to show any exceptional circumstances to warrant another bail application.
According to him, the third bail application was subsequently filed and also dismissed, but El-Rufai chose to appeal against the ruling on the second application. The ICPC counsel argued that the appellant failed to disclose to the Court of Appeal that the third application had equally been refused. He therefore described the appeal as unmeritorious and urged the court to dismiss it. But counsel to El-Rufai, Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged 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 not capital offences and that there was no justification for denying him bail. He said bail was a constitutional right except in capital offences, adding that keeping his client in ICPC custody was making it difficult for him to adequately prepare his defence. He said El-Rufai’s detention had made access to his lawyers and witnesses difficult and could affect confidential communication between the defendant and his legal team. The senior lawyer also described El-Rufai as a prominent opposition figure, arguing that it was not surprising that criminal charges were filed against him close to an election. Erokoro said the defence was hopeful that the Court of Appeal would take a different view from the High Court and grant the former governor bail. After listening to both sides, the appellate court reserved judgement, but refused to fix a date.
