Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Tuesday spent the second night in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as his lawyer, A.U. Mustapha (SAN), demanded his release on bail.
However, there are signs that the commission would ask for a remand order to keep him in detention longer so he can answer questions from the investigators working on his case.
Around 10 a.m. on Monday, the former governor came to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja to be questioned in relation to a purported N432 billion corruption investigation. Investigators continued to question him while he was in custody at the commission.
According to a commission official who requested anonymity, the anti-graft agency was thinking about requesting a remand order once the legally permitted number of hours had passed so that investigators could finish interviewing him.
“Forget the speculations being peddled on social media that he has been released. He has not. El-Rufai is still with us and will be spending another night in custody.
“He is very much with us and will remain so because the investigators are considering getting a remand order after the expiration of the 48 hours allowed by law.
“The investigators need some time with him to answer questions arising from his eight years as governor in Kaduna State,” the source said.
In a Tuesday phone interview with The PUNCH, Mustapha, El-Rufai’s attorney, affirmed that the former governor was still employed by the anti-graft organization and insisted that his client had provided investigators with complete cooperation.
He characterized his client as a law-abiding citizen who, if released on bond, poses no flight danger.
Mustapha said, “Well, as a responsible citizen, he was invited, and, true to his word, he honored the invitation.
“As we speak, he is still with the EFCC. He is cooperating to the best of his capacity, and we hope that the EFCC, given its integrity, will be kind enough to admit him to bail because he is presumed innocent, and I am sure if he is granted bail, he will not jump bail.
“He is a responsible citizen, and everybody knows him. He came to Nigeria on his own volition. He wrote a letter that he was going to honor the EFCC invitation, and he kept his word as a man of integrity. We’re hopeful that very soon he will be granted bail.”
Speaking on the specific allegations against his client, Mustapha declined to offer details.
“You’re asking the right question from the wrong person. That question can only be answered by the EFCC and not by me. I would just be speculating, and lawyers don’t do that.”
When asked further on whether he witnessed parts of the interrogation and what it was about, Mustapha responded, “That would be prejudicial. It’s a confidential matter and not meant for public consumption.”
The EFCC’s questioning is connected to the findings of a 2024 ad hoc committee of the Kaduna State House of Assembly that looked into contracts, loans, and finances given out between 2015 and 2023 under El-Rufai’s rule.
Henry Zacharia, the committee’s chair, had claimed that a number of loans taken out at that time were not used for what they were supposed to be.
Yusuf Dahiru Leman, the Speaker, asserted during the report’s presentation that the former governor’s government had embezzled roughly N423 billion.
The committee suggested looking into and prosecuting El-Rufai and a few former cabinet members for alleged misappropriation of public funds, money laundering, awarding contracts without following the proper procedures, and reckless borrowing.
The Assembly subsequently forwarded petitions to the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
El-Rufai has refuted the accusations, calling the investigation politically driven. He has maintained that loans taken out under his administration were legitimately appropriated and utilized for security, infrastructure, healthcare, and education.
According to an EFCC source on Monday, the commission has been looking into the case for almost a year. Suspects are often invited once investigations have progressed to a more advanced stage.
“The commission has been investigating him for about a year now. As a commission, we don’t just rush to invite suspects. Persons accused are always the last; that is, after we might have done our investigation to an advanced stage.
“We are investigating him on the allegations against him by the Kaduna State Assembly,” the source said.
In a different incident, El-Rufai has been charged with a crime by the Department of State Services in the Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly illegally intercepting National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s phone conversations.
The three-count charge, designated FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, was brought under the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 and the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act of 2024.
The charging sheet claims that El-Rufai acknowledged illegally intercepting Ribadu’s contacts with unidentified accomplices during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time Program on February 13, 2026.
Count One alleged that El-Rufai “did admit during the interview that you and your cohorts unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu,” an offense said to be punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes Amendment Act.
Count Three claimed that he and other people still at large employed technical equipment that jeopardized national security and public safety, while Count Two accused him of admitting knowledge of a person involved in the alleged interception without informing security agencies.
The prosecution additionally asserted that “reasonable apprehension of insecurity among Nigerians” was induced by the accused act, which was allegedly admitted during the television interview.
The former Kaduna governor is yet to be arraigned.
