• You lied, we didn’t deny el-Rufai food, medical care, ICPC tackles wife, son
•Family, senator, others protest, express fear
Adedayo Akinwale and Alex Enumah in Abuja
Detained former Kaduna State Kaduna, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has been granted bail in his trial on alleged breach of national security.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, admitted el-Rufai to bail in the sum of N100 million naira with one surety in like sum.
As part of conditions attached to the bail, Justice Abdulmalik, ordered that the proposed surety must reside in either Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property at the court registry.
The said surety, according to the judge, must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17 and must also provide evidence of salary payments for at least three months, authenticated by a letter from the manager of the bank within the jurisdiction of the court.
Besides, the surety is to depose to an affidavit of means, enter into a bail bond, and submit a recent passport photograph to the court registry.
The court also directed that a verification letter from the surety’s immediate department be submitted, alongside a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.
Meanwhile, Justice Abdulmalik has ordered el-Rufai to deposit all valid international passports with the court, and can only travel with the court’s permission.
The judge further ordered the defendant to report to the headquarters of the Department of State Services every last Friday of the month by 10 a.m. to sign an attendance register pending the determination of the case.
The judge warned that failure to comply would lead to an automatic revocation of the bail.
The court additionally directed the defendant to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council.
Shortly after admitting el-Rufai to bail, following the order for accelerated trial, the federal government commenced its case by calling its first witness who testified under the court’s protection with the name APC.
The witness, a personnel of the DSS, narrated how he was detailed to monitor the programme where el-Rufai had claimed that he wiretapped the communications of the NSA and two others that he should be arrested and detained.
The flashdrive and a letter of compliance were tendered and admitted in evidence, following which the prosecution then urged the court to play the programme, which was granted.
After watching the video for more than 20 minutes, there was an audio seizure prompting the prosecution to pray for an adjournment to enable him come with a clean device.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently granted the request and adjourned to Tuesday for continuation of trial.
Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), has refuted claims by el-Rufai’s wife, Aichatou El-Rufai, and his son, Bello, that the agency disapproved food and medical care for the former governor.
ICPC’s spokesman, Mr Okor Odey, described the claims by the former governor’s family as false and misleading.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Odey explained that ICPC’s access control protocol, which permitted visitor access between 9:00 am and 6:30 pm, was a standing institutional policy that applied to all persons in custody.
He added that the families of all defendants and suspects in ICPC custody, including the family in question (El-Rufai), were duly informed of this protocol and have, until this incident, been in compliance.
He further revealed that on the particular Friday, May 15 2026, one of Mr El-Rufai’s wives and a housemaid were permitted to bring food to the defendant on “no fewer than three (3) occasions between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm.
“This is documented in the visitor register, which records the names of family members and the purpose of each visit, and is available for independent verification (see entries 11, 12, 41, 43, 49, and 50),” he said.
He added that visitors, including family members, legal counsel, and medical personnel, were permitted to visit, deliver food, and consult with persons in custody, but that entry was strictly prohibited after 6:30 pm.
Odey also noted that el-Rufai’s wife had admitted in the trending video that she arrived at 7:00 pm, 30 minutes after the official access window closed.
“It is also on record that she has, on prior occasions, exceeded her permitted visiting duration. Furthermore, the woman herself admitted in the same video that she had delivered both breakfast and lunch to her husband earlier that day, thereby contradicting the allegation that the ICPC denied him access to food,” he said.
On the claims by el-Rufai’s son that medical personnel were denied access to his father, Odey explained that the commission only requested proper identification of the personnel in question and confirmation from the defendant or his family before granting supervised access, as part of standard security procedures.
“A medical personnel came here on Thursday and said he came to review the result of Mr El-Rufai’s tests with him. He didn’t particularly identify as a medical doctor, but he identified as medical personnel.
“The ICPC was not informed that someone would come to review his test results, but the man came at 3 p.m., and we asked him to identify himself. Normally, Mr El-Rufai or his family would write whenever they needed something, but in this case, no one wrote to us.
“So, we asked the visitor for a written document to show that he was sent by the family or requested by the suspect, but he couldn’t provide any written address to that effect.
“We did not deny access; it was part of the access control process, and until we’re sure, we will not allow it, and we will not apologise for doing the right thing.
“If we do not have proper notification and we do not have clearance, we will not allow it. The court said he should be granted medical access and allowed his family access to him, but the court didn’t say that should be done outside of our standard operating protocol.”
Concerning Mr El-Rufai’s bail and continued detention, the commission noted that the former governor had yet to meet his bail conditions.
“The court granted him bail, but he’s yet to meet his bail conditions. If he meets his bail conditions, we’ll immediately release him,” Mr Odey said.
Meanwhile, the immediate family members of El-Rufai have raised the alarm after the the DSS allegedly took the former Governor into custody instead of the custody of the ICPC as ordered by the court.
Also, the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Senator Lawal Adamu, among others, yesterday, protested against his detention at the headquarters of DSS.
El-Rufai’s second wife, Asia, who addressed journalists outside the DSS facility, said the family was traumatised by the development and lived daily under the shadow of threats and surveillance.
She said during the break, El-Rufai was briefly taken to the DSS facility — a move he resisted, insisting that two subsisting court orders from a Kaduna court directed that he be remanded with the ICPC.
“We now live in constant fear. Every day we get a threat — DSS is coming to raid your house, ICPC is coming to raid your house, police are coming to raid your house. You are being followed. Our phones are tapped,” Asia noted.
She recalled that el-Rufai had appeared before Justice Joyce AbdulMalik of the Federal High Court, who granted bail and stood the matter down until 1pm.
“He said to them, I am not going to step down because there are two court orders that the Kaduna court gave that I should be remanded in ICPC. Why are you bringing me here? He said, I am not a furniture to be moved,” she recounted.
Asia added that he was subsequently returned to the ICPC, but that after the afternoon session — during which the prosecution sought an adjournment and the judge fixed a resumption for the following day — he was again brought to the DSS instead of being returned to ICPC custody.
As of the time she addressed the newsmen, she said el-Rufai had refused to step out of the vehicle.
