News

Court Grants El-Rufai N100m Bail

Published

41 minutes ago

May 18, 2026

Eric

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted bail to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in the sum of N100m over charges bordering on alleged breach of national security.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, while ruling on the bail application, imposed stringent conditions for the former governor’s release.

The court held that the surety must reside in either the Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property with the court registry.

The judge further ruled that the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17 and must provide evidence of salary payments for at least three months, authenticated by a bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.

Justice Abdulmalik also directed the surety to depose to an affidavit of means, enter into a bail bond and submit a recent passport photograph to the court registry.

As part of the conditions, El-Rufai was ordered to deposit all valid international passports with the court.

The court also directed the submission of a verification letter from the surety’s department, along with a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.

In addition, the judge ordered the former governor to report to the Department of State Services headquarters on the last Friday of each month by 10 am to sign the attendance register, pending the determination of the case.

The court warned that any breach of the conditions would result in the bail being automatically revoked.

Justice Abdulmalik further ordered El-Rufai to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council.

The bail ruling followed the arraignment of the former governor by the Department of State Services on an amended five-count charge bordering on alleged breach of national security.

The DSS had, on April 23, arraigned El-Rufai before the same court, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts.

At the proceedings, counsel for the DSS, Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), informed the court that the prosecution had filed a further amended five-count charge on April 13 and sought to substitute the earlier three-count charge.

Count four of the amended charges marked marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, reads “That you, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, adult, male, intentionally and without authorization, intercepted the communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, as admitted by you on 13″ February, 2026, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV Station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”

Counsel to the defendant, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), confirmed receipt of the amended charge and did not oppose the application.

The court subsequently struck out the earlier three-count charge and read the amended counts to El-Rufai, who again pleaded not guilty.

The defence had drawn the court’s attention to a pending bail application filed on February 17, noting that a further affidavit initially missing from the court file was later located during proceedings.

The DSS, however, told the court that it was not opposing the bail request.

The defence also filed an application seeking to quash the amended charge, which the prosecution urged the court to dismiss for lacking merit.

After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter for hearing before delivering the bail ruling on Monday.

News

El-Rufai’s Son, Bello, Dumps APC, Joins ADC

Published

2 weeks ago

May 7, 2026

Eric

Bello El-Rufai, the son of former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The speaker said Bello El-Rufai joined the ADC alongside two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Kaduna State — Reps Umar Ajilo and Suleiman Yahaya Richifa.

He also announced the defection of Kamilu Ado, a lawmaker from Kano State, from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Speaker also announced the resignation of Rep. Joshua Obika, representing the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory, from the APC to the NDC.

The defected members, however, cited internal crises and uncertainty within their former parties as reasons for their defections.

News

Gunmen Kill Driver, Abduct Passengers on Benin-Ore Expressway

Published

4 weeks ago

April 20, 2026

Eric

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have attacked a commercial bus operated by GUO Transport along the Benn-Ore expressway, killing the driver and abducting several passengers in what underscores Nigeria’s deepening insecurity on major highways.

Reports indicate that the assailants ambushed the South East-bound vehicle, opened fire on the driver, who died at the scene, and subsequently whisked away passengers to an unknown destination.

The incident is believed to have occurred along a notorious stretch of the highway linking the South-West to the South-South, long plagued by banditry and abductions.

While official confirmation from security agencies is expected, local sources and a circulating video showed that passengers might have forcefully been taken into nearby forests, a tactic commonly employed by kidnapping syndicates operating along the corridor. Similar attacks in the past have involved mass abductions, with victims later released after ransom payments.

News

Police Retirees Block Aso Rock Gate, Demand Action on Pension Scheme

Published

4 weeks ago

April 20, 2026

Eric

Some retirees of the Nigeria Police Force under the aegis of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF) have staged a protest at the Presidential Villa in Abuja demanding President Bola Tinubu sign the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly in December 2025.

The bill seeks to withdraw the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The protesters, under the scorching sun, walked from the Three Arms Zone in Abuja through the street in front of the Police Headquarters.

They carried placards with various inscriptions, in addition to the Nigerian flag and the flag of the Nigeria Police Force.

Led by its National Coordinator, CSP Raphael Irowainu, the protesters described the retention of the NPF in the Contributory Pension Scheme as fraudulent and illegal.

They also said the CPS is inhumane and obnoxious.

According to them, the protest seeks to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give assent to the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly on 4th December 2025 and transmitted to the President on 16th March 2026.

They said that when signed into law, the Act will totally exempt the police from what they called a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”

The protesters, accompanied by some of their spouses and children, also blocked Gate 8 leading into the Presidential Villa, causing obstruction to vehicular movement.

Efforts by Villa security personnel to dissuade them from the protest proved abortive as they insisted on seeing the President.

They laid their mats in front of the gate, singing songs of solidarity, while some of them lay on the floor.

As of the time of filing this report, no one from the Villa had addressed the protesters.

CSP Irowainu said that their main purpose is to prevail on President Tinubu to sign the bill exiting the Nigeria Police Force from the CPS, which he said has been passed and transmitted to him by the National Assembly.

He lamented that while other security agencies in the country such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, SSS and others have all been exited from the scheme, the police remain trapped in it.

“Our major aim here is to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign our bill—the bill exiting the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme—passed by the National Assembly on 4th December 2025 and transmitted to him on 16th March, 2026, into law, nothing more than that.

“The soldiers have been exited, the SSS has been exited, the Air Force has been exited, the Navy has been exited, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has been exited. The police, who are the father of them all, are trapped in this obnoxious Contributory Pension Scheme,” CSP Irowainu said.

It is not the first time retired officers are staging a protest over the CPS. In July last year, they demonstrated at the National Assembly to demand their removal from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The demonstrators, mostly elderly, stood in the rain holding placards and chanting anti-government songs.

Some of the retired police officers also besieged the Force Headquarters in Abuja to protest against the CPS.

Addressing the protesters at the time, the then Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, said the welfare of retired police officers was being addressed, but that the exit of the Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme was not something that could be implemented immediately.

He, however, advised the leaders of the protest to refrain from spreading misinformation, stressing that the Force could not abandon its own.