El-Rufai Granted Bail With Stringent Conditions

The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted N100 million bail to former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over his trial for an alleged security breach.

He had admitted on national television to wiretapping the national security adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu.

He was consequently charged by the Department of State Services (DSS) for allegedly breaching national security.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, in her ruling on El-Rufai’s bail application, imposed a series of stringent conditions to be met by the defendant before perfecting the bail.

The court held 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 with the court registry.

The surety must also be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17 and must provide evidence of salary payments for at least three months, authenticated by a letter from the bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.

The court further ordered the surety to depose to an affidavit of means, enter into a bail bond, and submit a recent passport photograph to the court registry.

As part of the bail conditions, El-Rufai is to deposit all valid international passports with the court.

The court also directed that a verification letter from the surety’s immediate department be submitted along with a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.

Justice Abdulmalik further ordered the defendant to report to the DSS headquarters on the last Friday of each month by 10 a.m. to sign the attendance register, pending the determination of the case.

The judge warned that failure to comply would result in the automatic revocation of bail.

The court additionally directed the defendant to submit a letter of attestation from the chairman of the Kaduna State Traditional Council and ordered an accelerated trial.