Asiya El-Rufai Says Husband’s Detention Is Political, Says His Bail Conditions Are Tough

Asiya El-Rufai, one of the wives of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, has alleged that political interests are behind her husband’s continued detention.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, Asiya argued that although the charges against the former governor are bailable, the conditions attached to his release are extremely difficult to fulfil.

Asiya explained that the family has struggled to meet the bail requirements imposed by both the Federal High Court in Kaduna and the Federal High Court in Abuja.

According to her, one of the conditions set by the Kaduna court requires two sureties who must each present property valued at N200 million in Kaduna’s Government Reserved Area (GRA).

She said the court also directed that the sureties obtain an attestation letter from the Kaduna Traditional Council.

However, Asiya claimed the traditional council declined to issue the letter without giving any explanation.

“Mallam has been accused of offences in different courts. These charges are clearly bailable offences under Nigerian law. He has applied for bail several times,” she said.

“In the federal high court, he was granted bail with terms that are not viable. In federal high court in Kaduna, Justice Aikawa granted bail for two sureties — N200 million each with property worth N200 million in GRA Kaduna.

“He also said that the traditional council in Kaduna state must give attestation. Efforts to get this became impossible. The traditional council would not give that attestation. They gave no reason directly. They just said they are unable to do it.

“When you want to post a bail, you have to do property verification and submit the original certificate. Before you submit your original certificate, you need to go to the land registry and verify it.

“The land registry in Kaduna was shut down at that period. We were stuck in the mud. Every effort to get that became impossible.”

She also criticised the bail terms granted by the Federal High Court in Abuja, describing them as equally difficult to meet.

According to her, one of the sureties must be a civil servant who owns property in either Asokoro or Maitama, two high-value districts in Abuja.

She argued that even if a qualified civil servant could meet those requirements, many would be unwilling to act as sureties because of the attention and scrutiny the case has attracted.

“I don’t want to speculate but as a Nigerian and human beings, I don’t think it is wrong if I say that there must be some politics going on,” she added.

She also pointed out that Nasir El-Rufai voluntarily returned to Nigeria after receiving invitations from security agencies, saying he would have stayed abroad if his intention had been to avoid prosecution.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting the former governor in separate criminal cases before the Kaduna High Court and the Federal High Court in Kaduna.

Meanwhile, the Department of State Services (DSS) is also prosecuting El-Rufai before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of wiretapping.

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