By Kingston Magare 1.4.2026
Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai is back in Federal government custody after he was arrested by Department of State Services agents at the premises of a Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna on Wednesday.
El-Rufai had been brought to court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for his bail application hearing after he and Joel Adoga were arraigned on charges of fraud and money laundering on March 24.
He was held in custody by the ICPC but was released last weekend to attend the funeral of his late mother.
Speaking with journalists after the court proceedings, Oluwole Iyamu, lead counsel to the former governor, said the defense team is hopeful on the judgment of the court pertaining to the bail application.
“The bail application was argued and responded to, and the ruling has been fixed for April 14. We look forward to that day. We are hopeful,” he said.
“We have put our arguments before the court, and this is a court of justice. We await the decision of the court.”
According to Iyamu El-Rufai had a separate case with the DSS and he is scheduled to appear in court on April 10.
In February, DSS filed a three-count charge against El-Rufai over alleged unlawful interception of a telephone conversation, following comments he made during a television interview.
During an interview on ‘Prime Time’, an Arise Television programme, el-Rufai said “someone wiretapped” Nuhu Ribadu’s phone, allowing him to listen to the NSA instructing security operatives to effect his arrest.