- Orders ex-Gov to reports at DSS office once monthly
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to a former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, for N100 million with one surety in like sum.
El-Rufai is facing criminal trial in the case file against him by the Department of State Services (DSS) for the alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Abdulmalik imposed a series of stringent conditions the defendant must meet before perfecting the bail.
The court held that the proposed surety must reside in either the Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property at the court registry.
The surety is also required to 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 letter from the manager of a bank within the jurisdiction of the court.
The court further ordered 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 bail conditions, El-Rufai is to deposit all valid international passports with the court registry.
The court also directed that a verification letter from the surety’s immediate department be submitted, alongside a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.
Justice Abdulmalik further ordered the defendant to report to the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) every last Friday of the month by 10am to sign an attendance register pending the determination of the case.
The judge warned that failure to comply with the conditions would lead to an automatic revocation of the bail.
The court additionally directed the defendant to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council.