By Attah Ede
The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna, presided over by Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, on Tuesday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai challenging the refusal of his bail application by the Kaduna State High Court.
The presiding judge, Justice Onyekachi Aja Otisi, reserved judgment after hearing arguments from counsel to El-Rufai and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Speaking shortly after the court session, ICPC lead counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the Kaduna State High Court was right to refuse El-Rufai’s bail application.
Adedipe said the former governor had filed three separate bail applications before the trial court, all of which were refused.
He explained that the first application was dismissed, while the second was also rejected after El-Rufai failed to show any exceptional circumstances to warrant another bail application.
According to him, the third bail application was subsequently filed and also dismissed, but El-Rufai chose to appeal against the ruling on the second application.
The ICPC counsel argued that the appellant failed to disclose to the Court of Appeal that the third application had also been refused.
He therefore described the appeal as unmeritorious and urged the court to dismiss it.
However, counsel to El-Rufai, Paul Erokoro, SAN, asked the court to overturn the decision of the lower court and grant his client bail pending the determination of the charges against him.
Erokoro argued that the offences for which El-Rufai was charged were bailable and not capital offences, noting that there was no justification for denying him bail.
According to him, bail is a constitutional right except in cases involving capital offences, adding that keeping his client in ICPC custody was making it difficult for him to adequately prepare his defence.
He explained that El-Rufai’s detention had made access to his lawyers and witnesses difficult and could affect confidential communication between the defendant and his legal team.
The senior lawyer also described El-Rufai as a prominent opposition figure, arguing that it was not surprising that criminal charges were filed against him close to an election.
Erokoro said the defence was hopeful that the Court of Appeal would take a different view from the High Court and grant the former governor bail.
After listening to arguments from both sides, the presiding judge reserved judgment but did not fix a date for its delivery.
