Former Kaduna State governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has been charged with a revised set of corruption allegations, as Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency brought an amended case against him in court.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) filed a nine-count charge on Monday at the Kaduna State High Court, accusing Mr El-Rufai of fraud, abuse of office and other offences during his time in power.
His lawyer, Ukpong Abang, said the defence team only received the updated charges in court shortly before proceedings began, preventing the trial from starting as planned.
“These charges are entirely new to us. They were given to us this morning while we were already in court,” Mr Abang said.
“We will analyse the charges and make our position known. For now, there is nothing we can do until we have fully reviewed them.”
The amended filing removes a previous co-defendant, leaving Mr El-Rufai as the sole person facing prosecution.
According to the ICPC, the charges relate to several alleged financial and administrative irregularities. These include claims that, in 2016, Mr El-Rufai approved the payment of about 11 billion naira for a light rail project that was not carried out.
The commission also alleges that he authorised and received severance benefits significantly above the legally approved amount, and improperly handled more than one million US dollars linked to a World Bank loan.
Additional counts include accusations of breaching procurement rules, granting undue advantages to associates, and involvement in unlawful land allocations. Prosecutors further claim there were attempts to influence investigators during an earlier inquiry.
In a brief statement through his legal team, Mr El-Rufai denied any wrongdoing and said he would contest the allegations in court, describing the charges as “baseless and politically motivated.”
The case is being heard by Darius Khobo, who adjourned proceedings until Tuesday. The court is expected to rule on Mr El-Rufai’s bail application at the next hearing.
The trial is set to continue as legal arguments over the amended charges unfold.
