Olayiwola Matthew
The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted N100 million bail to Nasir el-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State over alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ruled that the defendant must provide one surety, who must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17 and resident in either Maitama or Asokoro, Abuja.
The surety is also required to deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property valued not less than the bail sum, alongside proof of salary for at least three months, authenticated by a bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.
Additional conditions include submission of an affidavit of means, recent passport photograph, tax clearance for the last six months, and a verification letter from the surety’s department.
The court further ordered El-Rufai to surrender his international passport and barred him from travelling without approval. He is also to report to the DSS headquarters every last Friday of the month by 10 a.m. pending the determination of the case.
Justice Abdulmalik warned that any violation of the bail conditions would lead to automatic revocation.
The case, marked “FHC/ABJ/99/2026”, borders on allegations that El-Rufai admitted during an Arise TV interview that he aligned with others to unlawfully intercept the NSA’s communications.
However, El-Rufai has denied the allegations, arguing that “a casual remark in a television programme cannot be elevated to a judicial confession.”
