Nasir el-Rufai’s bail application was adjourned to the first week of June 2026 by the Kaduna State High Court on Tuesday, leaving the former governor in ICPC custody while the court delays its ruling. The hearing now moves into June after trial judge Darius Khobo pushed back the decision again.
El-Rufai arrived at the court on Tuesday morning alongside operatives of the ICPC and the DSS. The adjournment keeps in place the court’s earlier order that he remain in ICPC custody pending a decision on the application.
Darius Khobo and the April schedule
The latest adjournment follows an earlier step in the same case. On April 14, Khobo adjourned the verdict on the bail application to April 21, 2026, before the court moved it again to the first week of June 2026.
The case turns on an amended nine-count charge that the ICPC filed against him at the Kaduna high court on April 13. The charge borders on alleged fraud and abuse of office, and the ICPC removed Amadu Sule from the amended case, leaving el-Rufai as the sole defendant.
ICPC custody and bail
El-Rufai has been in ICPC custody since February 19. He was released on compassionate grounds on March 27 after his mother died, then returned to the court process that led to Tuesday’s adjournment.
The prosecution opposed bail on the ground that he could interfere with ongoing investigations. In another criminal charge at the federal high court in Kaduna, Rilwanu Aikawa granted him N200 million bail, a separate order that does not end the detention he now faces in the ICPC matter.
Ukpong Akpan’s response
Ukpong Akpan, counsel to the defendant, described the repeated adjournment as “politically motivated.” After the court session, he said, “The next step is to take the legal steps required to challenge it. We will respond through the proper legal process. That is what the law requires.”
He also told supporters, “Don’t allow fear to take over. Don’t act as if something fatal has happened. Nobody has died,” and added: “In a conflict, you have gains and setbacks. Sometimes things work against you, but you must not be frightened. Sit up. We are going to take this battle on and we are going to win.”
The June adjournment means the bail question stays unresolved for weeks longer, with Khobo still holding the next procedural step in a case built around the amended nine-count charge in Kaduna.
