Hopes of the Kaduna State ex-Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, securing administrative bail to leave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) custody and reunite with his family, as well as his supporters in the African Democratic Party (ADC), may have been dashed after the anti-graft agency indicated plans to hold him until the over N400 billion fraud allegations against him is filed before court.
The EFCC, as gathered, has concluded plans to prosecute the former governor after completing the interrogation organised to obtain more evidence from him to corroborate their investigations, which was said to have signalled that the funds were allegedly misappropriated under El-Rufai’s administration, with no trace of any project tied to the money.
Indications from the agency, after the former minister spent the night under EFCC custody, with hours of interrogation over the funds, were that the anti-corruption agency would be adopting the same strategy for Kogi State ex-governor, Yahaya Bello, on his former colleague, El-Rufai.
The detention, sources said, suggested that the investigation by the anti-graft agency has moved beyond preliminary review to active interrogation.
This came on Tuesday after it was learnt that the ex-governor arrived at the Commission’s headquarters yesterday around 10 am in response to an invitation to defend himself on its findings, which was aided by the allegations made by the Kaduna State House of Assembly in its 2024 probe report on El-Rufai’s administration between 2015 and 2023.
In the lawmakers’ report, the former minister was accused of misappropriating loans, violating due process in contract awards, and plunging the state into heavy debts rather than relieving the state.
A senior EFCC officer, who did not reveal his name because he was not authorised to speak on the former governor’s detention, told The Guild that El-Rufai is being questioned to assist the commission in concluding its over one-year investigation on what transpired during the former governor’s tenure in Kaduna.
He added that questioning a suspect was the last part of the agency’s investigation pattern, saying this investigation stage is conducted after evidence linked the suspect to the crime allegedly perpetrated.
The EFCC officer stressed that they do not invite an individual if there is no evidence linking him to the crime, noting that an invitation by EFCC to anyone proves that a part of a probe has linked one to a crime.
When asked what evidence the commission has against El-Rufai that warranted the invitation, the senior officer declined to reveal details, saying they are confidential.
However, he explained that the invitation was to assist the former minister in understanding that the commission had evidence linking him to the huge funds allegedly misappropriated under his administration by the Kaduna lawmakers.
“We do not have any personal grudge with the former governor, but we just have to do our job as stipulated by law. Recovering public funds is more important to us than going about prosecuting them. We will be happy if anyone accused of misappropriating public funds can just return the money to the office where it was removed. It saves the agency from spending money to pursue cases. We may accept a plea bargain.”
The EFCC officer noted that if the suspect denied and insisted that there was no money to be returned, the agency would have no option but to drag him before the court for prosecution.
On El-Rufai, the senior officer stressed that the former governor did not accept that the funds were misappropriated under his administration.
“I can tell you that after we conclude the interrogation, if the former minister doesn’t accept, the agency will not have a choice but to arraign him before court to prove his innocence on the fraud that was allegedly perpetrated while serving the people of Kaduna”.
The EFCC interrogation is rooted in the report of the Kaduna State House of Assembly’s ad hoc committee constituted in 2024 to investigate finances, loans, and contracts awarded between 2015 and 2023 under El-Rufai’s administration.
It would be recalled that while presenting the committee’s report during plenary, the House committee chairman, Henry Zacharia, alleged that most of the loans obtained by the El-Rufai administration were not utilised for the purposes for which they were secured.
While receiving the report, the Speaker of the House, Yusuf Leman, alleged that about N423bn was siphoned under the El-Rufai administration, leaving Kaduna State with heavy financial liabilities and a rising debt profile.
The committee recommended prosecution of the former governor and several members of his cabinet over alleged abuse of office, award of contracts without due process, diversion of public funds, money laundering, and reckless borrowing.
The lawmakers, to ensure the funds were recovered, endorsed a petition to the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, urging them to take up the matter.
In the legislative report also referenced disputed cash payments and contracts amounting to over N155m, as well as the alleged diversion of N1.37bn earmarked for a light rail project. It also cited the purported laundering of N64.8m by senior aides.
El-Rufai has consistently denied the allegations, describing the probe as politically motivated and insisting that all loans obtained during his tenure were duly appropriated and applied to infrastructural development, education reforms, healthcare upgrades, and security interventions.
