Court Adjourns EL-Rufai’s Case to Next Tuesday

The Federal High Court, Kaduna, has on Tuesday, 24th of March, 2026, adjourned the hearing in the case involving former Governor Nasir El-Rufai to March 31, 2026. The court gave this verdict after the governor was arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on the grounds of abuse of public funds during his tenure as  governor,  while under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress. 

The matter was heard by Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa, before whom the ICPC arraigned El-Rufai, alongside Joel Adoga, on a single count in relation to “deposits into a domiciliary account.” According to the Head of Media of the ICPC, John Odey, “the suit with number FHC/KD/73/2026 has charges ranging from conversion of and possession of public property, to money laundering.” However, EL-Rufai, represented by his counsel Ukpon Akpan, pleaded  not guilty. 

The commission’s Head of Media further added that, besides the charge for which the former governor was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, he has also been charged before a Kaduna State High Court. Speaking on this separate charge, Mr John Odey explained that the charge at the State High Court borders on “abuse of office, fraud, and intent to confer undue advantage, among others. Both charges were filed by the ICPC on the 18th of March, 2026.” The dates for the hearing of this charge will be communicated soon. 

Recall that El-Rufai was first taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 16, 2026, for corruption. He was briefly released on administrative bail, but was immediately picked up by the ICPC on February 18, 2026,  having obtained an order to remand El-Rufai on the 5th of March, 2026. He was held for an extended period amidst public backlash before his recent arraignments on the 24th of March, 2026.