Operatives of the Department of State Services on Monday took custody of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, shortly after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted him bail in the sum of N100 million, setting off a fresh round of drama surrounding the embattled former governor who has now spent more than 90 days in detention. 

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered the bail ruling on Monday, but imposed a series of stringent conditions that legal observers say could make the bail extremely difficult to perfect.

Among the requirements, the court directed that El-Rufai’s surety must reside in either Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property with the court registry. The surety is also required to be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17, with evidence of at least three months’ salary payments authenticated by a bank manager’s letter. The former governor was further ordered to surrender all valid international passports to the court and to report to DSS headquarters on the last Friday of every month by 10 a.m. to sign an attendance register.

The court warned that any violation of the conditions would result in the automatic revocation of the bail.

The bail ruling came after the DSS arraigned El-Rufai on an amended five-count charge bordering on alleged breach of national security a case rooted in statements the former governor made during a live television appearance on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on February 13, 2026. During the broadcast, El-Rufai claimed that the phone of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, had been wiretapped and that he was privy to a conversation in which Ribadu allegedly directed security operatives to effect his arrest. One of the amended counts alleged that El-Rufai intentionally and without authorisation intercepted communications belonging to the NSA, contrary to Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024. El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Following the court proceedings, DSS operatives took custody of the former governor, sparking an immediate outcry from his family. His second wife, Hasiat El-Rufai, who addressed journalists outside the DSS facility in Abuja, accused the security agencies of violating existing court orders that directed her husband to remain in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. She recounted that during a court break, operatives had attempted to move El-Rufai to a DSS facility and that he had resisted, insisting on the subsisting Kaduna court orders. His son and House of Representatives member, Bello El-Rufai, also alleged that the bail conditions were deliberately structured to be impossible to meet, and described the entire prosecution as politically motivated.

El-Rufai’s freedom, even if the Abuja bail is perfected, remains far from certain. The Kaduna State High Court, in a separate matter brought by the ICPC over allegations including the alleged misappropriation of approximately N11 billion in state funds earmarked for a light rail project that was never executed, declined to grant him bail in an April 21 ruling, citing the gravity of the charges. His lead counsel, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), confirmed receipt of the amended DSS charges and maintained that his client would continue to contest the allegations vigorously.

The former governor has consistently denied any wrongdoing, insisting the multiple cases against him are an exercise in political persecution.