Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has been granted temporary bail from the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The development is to enable him to attend the funeral rites of his mother, Hajiya Umma El-Rufai, who reportedly died in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday.
An aide to the former governor confirmed that the release was approved on compassionate grounds following the family’s bereavement.
Reacting to the development, his son, Bashir El-Rufai, disclosed in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle that his father had been released from detention.
He wrote: “My beloved great legend of a father (@elrufai) is being released from his unlawful and illegal detention at the hands of one of the most corrupt agencies in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that is a lame excuse of a pathetic institution. Thank you all for all the support. Our family shall never forget these times. We have overcome, as the El-Rufais.”
As of this report, the ICPC has yet to issue an official statement regarding the terms of his temporary release or the next steps in its investigation.
The former Kaduna State Governor is facing a series of high-profile legal battles involving allegations of financial misconduct, money laundering, and national security breaches across multiple courts in Nigeria.
El-Rufai has been in ICPC custody since February 18.
On March 24, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) formally arraigned El-Rufai alongside co-defendant Joel Adoga at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
