Operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) arrested former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday.

The secret police organisation’s agents arrested Mr El-Rufai shortly after the Federal High Court in Kaduna, Kaduna State, finished hearing his bail application and set 14 April for ruling.

Until Wednesday, Mr El-Rufai was detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over fraud and corruption charges instituted against him by the agency.

The agency took custody of the former governor on 18 February after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained him for two days.

ICPC is not the only government agency going after Mr El-Rufai.

He faces numerous criminal charges and ongoing investigations by the ICPC, the SSS and the EFCC.

The SSS arrest may be connected with the charges the agency filed against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja, which has already set 10 April for his arraignment.

The prosecution charged Mr El-Rufai in the case over his claim of tapping National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu’s phone call in February.

Even the ICPC, which has already filed two sets of charges against him at the Federal High Court and the State High Court (both in Kaduna), claims its investigations into him are ongoing.

In the case before the Federal High Court in Kaduna which came up on Wednesday, the ICPC accused him of taking inflated severance pays after completing his first and second terms as governor in 2019 and 2023.

The agency also accused him of receiving suspicious payments in his dollar domiciliary accounts for years while serving as governor.

The alleged fraudulent severance pays totalled N579.7 million while suspicious deposits amounted to $817,900.

Bail hearing

At Wednesday’s hearing, Mr El-Rufai’s lawyer, Oluwole yamu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the Federal High Court to grant the former governor bail, arguing that it is his constitutional right.

The lawyer stressed that Mr El-Rufai has strong ties to Nigeria and poses no flight risk.

However, the prosecution opposed the application, warning that granting the former governor bail could give him an opportunity to influence witnesses or interfere with ongoing investigations.

After hearing both sides, the judge adjourned set 14 April for ruling.

Wednesday’s proceedings saw heightened security within and around the court premises, a feature that has become characteristic of Mr El-Rufai’s appearance before the court since the first time on 24 March.

Speaking with journalists after Wednesday’s proceedings, the lawyer, Mr Oluwole, said his team was prepared for the case pending at the Federal High Court in Abuja, over which the SSS likely arrested Mr El-Rufai on Wednesday.

Background

The ICPC arraigned him and his co-defendant, Joel Adoga, before the Federal High Court in Kaduna on 10 corruption charges on 24 March.

The judge then ordered the defendants’ remand in ICPC custody and initially set Tuesday for the hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.

ICPC agents produced Mr El-Rufai in court for scheduled hearing on Tuesday, his first court appearance after the agency granted him conditional bail for him to attend his mother’s burial on Sunday.

The body of his mother, Ummar El-Rufai, who died in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday, was laid to rest in Abuja on Sunday.

It was learnt that Mr El-Rufai returned to ICPC custody after the burial ahead of the hearing of his bail application, which was initially scheduled for Tuesday.

However, Tuesday’s proceedings stalled over some preliminary issues, prompting the judge to postpone the hearing until today (Wednesday).

PREMIUM TIMES reported that ICPC agents took him back into custody on Tuesday to produce him on Wednesday.

But at the end of Wednesday’s proceedings, SSS operatives took him into custody.

SSS arrests El-Rufai after bail hearing in Kaduna court

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