A Kaduna High Court has again deferred its ruling on the bail application of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, adjourning the decision to July 1, in what his legal team has characterised as a continuing pattern of delays in proceedings before the Court.

The adjournment is the latest in a series that has kept El-Rufai in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission since his arrest in February.

The case before the Kaduna State High Court, presided over by Justice Darius Khobo, centres on an amended nine-count charge filed by the ICPC, bordering on alleged abuse of office, fraud, conferment of undue advantage and other offences under the Kaduna State Penal Code and several federal anti-corruption statutes. El-Rufai has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The bail question before Justice Khobo has been subject to a prolonged back-and-forth. The court had originally been expected to rule on the application in April, before deferring to June, and now again to July. The defence team has consistently pushed back against these delays, with counsel Ukpon Akpan previously describing the persistent adjournments as politically motivated, a characterisation the court and the ICPC have not directly responded to.

El-Rufai’s legal battles span multiple courts simultaneously. A Federal High Court in Kaduna had earlier granted him bail of N200 million with extensive conditions, including the requirement that sureties include a recognised traditional ruler and a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 15, with international passports deposited with the court. He is also facing a separate case at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the Department of State Services charged him with alleged unlawful interception of communications, and where a court sitting on Wednesday fixed September 22 for a no-case submission after the DSS closed its evidence. In that proceeding, his defence counsel also asked the court to ease bail conditions described as excessively stringent.

The ICPC has maintained throughout that El-Rufai poses a flight risk and has the means to evade trial given his stature as a former governor, former minister and prominent opposition figure. The agency has also argued that releasing him without proper safeguards could compromise ongoing investigations and expose prosecution witnesses to potential interference.

El-Rufai and his supporters have consistently rejected these characterisations, with the African Democratic Congress, of which he is a chieftain, describing his continued detention as political persecution dressed up as legal prosecution.