By Emmanuel Thomas l Tuesday, April 21.26
KADUNA – The political aspirations of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, may have hit a significant roadblock following a decision by the Kaduna State High Court to adjourn his bail application hearing until the first week of June 2026.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Darius Khobo on Tuesday, implies that the former governor will remain in custody throughout the crucial period of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) primary elections.
According to the timetable previously released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties are scheduled to conduct their primaries between late April and the end of May 2026. With El-Rufai’s bail hearing now set for June, his physical participation in the ADC primaries—where he was widely expected to be a frontline contender—is effectively stalled.
The Charges
El-Rufai is facing a multi-count charge brought by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The allegations against him include:
Financial Misconduct: Alleged mismanagement of over $1.08 million from a World Bank loan granted to Kaduna State.
Procurement Breaches: Illegalities regarding an ₦11 billion light rail project that was allegedly never executed.
Abuse of Office: Approving and receiving approximately ₦289.8 million as a severance allowance, far exceeding the legally mandated ₦20 million.
Counsel to the former governor, Barrister Ukpong Abang, expressed dissatisfaction with the long adjournment, hinting that the delay might be politically motivated to prevent his client from participating in the upcoming electoral process.
”The adjournment to June effectively fences out our client from the democratic process he is entitled to participate in,” a source from the defense team noted.
While a Federal High Court had earlier granted El-Rufai bail in a separate case involving nine counts of fraud, the lack of a similar ruling in the Kaduna State High Court means he must remain in the custody of the ICPC until both conditions are met.
The legal woes of Nasir El-Rufai, who served as Kaduna State Governor from 2015 to 2023, intensified in early 2026 when the ICPC and the Department of State Services (DSS) initiated a series of investigations into his eight-year tenure.
Initially arraigned alongside other defendants, the ICPC recently amended the charges to list El-Rufai as the sole defendant, shifting the focus from simple money laundering to complex governance-based crimes, including breach of public trust and procurement fraud.
The timing of the trial has sparked intense debate. El-Rufai, who recently decamped to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was seen as a major force capable of shifting the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His inability to secure bail before the ADC primaries could leave the party in a precarious position as it seeks to finalize its candidate list for the upcoming polls.