Court grants El-Rufai ₦100m bail

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, in the sum of ₦100 million with one surety in like sum.

Delivering the ruling, Justice Abdulmalik imposed a series of stringent conditions that the defendant must meet before securing his release.

The court ruled that the proposed surety must reside in either the Maitama or Asokoro district of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of a landed property with the court registry.

Additionally, the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17, provide evidence of at least three months of salary payments, and present a letter of authentication from a bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.

The court further ordered the surety to depose to an affidavit of means, sign a bail bond, and submit a recent passport photograph to the court registry.

As part of the bail conditions, El-Rufai is required to surrender all valid international passports to the court registry.

The court also directed the submission of a verification letter from the surety’s primary department, alongside a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.

The defendant must submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna State Traditional Council.

Justice Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to report to the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) by 10:00 a.m. on the last Friday of every month to sign an attendance register, pending the determination of the case.

The judge warned that failure to comply with any of these conditions would result in the automatic revocation of his bail.