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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

Tight Security as El-Rufai Appears in Kaduna Court for Bail Ruling Amid Amended Charges

From The Punch · (1d ago) English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai appeared in court for a bail ruling amid heavy security presence.
  • Proceedings were adjourned to April 21 after the prosecution filed amended charges against El-Rufai.
  • El-Rufai's counsel stated they need time to review the new charges before deciding on their next course of action.

Heavy security enveloped the Federal High Court in Kaduna as former Governor Nasir El-Rufai attended a hearing for his bail application. The court premises saw restricted movement, with operatives strategically positioned to maintain order, as the former governor arrived under tight guard, keeping journalists and the public at a distance.

The court had scheduled Tuesday for the ruling on El-Rufai's bail concerning new charges. However, proceedings at the Kaduna State High Court, where he initially appeared, were adjourned to April 21 by Justice Darius Khobo. This development followed fresh legal actions by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, which presented an amended nine-count charge, naming El-Rufai as the sole defendant.

The charges are entirely new to us. They were given to us this morning while we were already in court. That is why the matter could not proceed to hearing.

— Ukpong AbangExplaining the reason for the adjournment of the bail ruling.

El-Rufai's legal team, led by Ukpong Abang, indicated that the amended charges were unexpected and provided just before the court session. "The charges are entirely new to us. They were given to us this morning while we were already in court. That is why the matter could not proceed to hearing," Abang told reporters. The defense will now take time to thoroughly analyze the amended charges before formulating their response and determining the next steps in the legal process.

We will analyse the charges and make our position known. For now, there is nothing we can do until we have fully reviewed them.

— Ukpong AbangDescribing the defense team's next steps regarding the amended charges.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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