By Pascal Ibe

Claim

An X user, Sani Suleiman, claimed that Nasir El Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, has been released.

Verdict

This claim is FALSE. Although a court granted him bail in the phone tapping case he had with the DSS, the ICPC is still holding El Rufai in its custody over another money laundering case in Kaduna.

Full Text

The primaries for various political positions of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have been held, with different candidates fielding the positions.

However, this would not pass without remembering El Rufai, one of the heavyweights who joined the ADC recently to help unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

An X user, Sani Suleiman, has claimed that El Rufai was recently released after the conclusion of the ADC primaries.

The post on the X platform reads: JUST IN: Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has finally been released from detention after APC and ADC concluded their primaries.

The post has generated over 55k views, with divided comments arguing that if the information was true.

Verification

First, there are no credible reports from any reputable news organisation in Nigeria that the former governor has been released.

El Rufai is facing two separate court cases of phone tapping allegations and money laundering.

A few months ago, he alleged that he tapped and monitored the phone of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Also, an anti-graft agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), dragged El Rufai to a court in Kaduna over the alleged misappropriation of funds in the state during his time as governor.

On 18 May, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted N100 million bail to El-Rufai, who is facing trial over the alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of Ribadu.

As part of the bail conditions, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to produce a surety who must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17.

According to the court, the surety must not only be resident in either Maitama or Asokoro highbrow districts of Abuja, but must also deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property not valued below the bail sum. 

It held that the surety must also provide evidence of receipt of salary for at least three months, with an authenticated letter from the manager of a bank within the jurisdiction of the court.

But his family raised the alarm that the Department of State Services, DSS, allegedly took him into custody and later handed him over to the ICPC.

The ADC accused the Federal Government of turning El-Rufai into a political prisoner, describing his ordeal as “political persecution dressed up as prosecution.”

Meanwhile, Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court in April adjourned the bail hearing of  El-Rufai to the first week of June, 2026.

The 66-year-old former governor of Kaduna has been in ICPC custody since February 19 following his release by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

El-Rufai, a former minister of the FCT, was, however, released on March 27 based on compassionate grounds following his mother’s death.

Conclusion

Although a court granted him bail in the phone tapping case weeks ago, El Rufai still has another case in court coming up in June.