Nasir El-Rufai, former Kaduna State governor, stood alone in the dock on Monday after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission deleted co-defendant Amadu Sule from a fresh nine-count charge. ICPC prosecutors told the High Court that Sule's failing health made his trial impossible; he is currently hospitalised in a security-run facility. With journalists locked out of the courtroom, El-Rufai's lead counsel Ubong Akpan confirmed the amendment and said the defence received the new indictment only minutes before the session opened. Justice Darius Khobo took the defendant's plea, heard preliminary arguments on bail, and fixed April 14 for a full hearing.
The reworked charge claims El-Rufai channelled N11 billion to an unregistered company for an unbuilt light-rail scheme, pocketed N289.8 million in excess severance pay, and diverted $1.08 million from a World Bank facility. He is also accused of awarding a N4.6 billion CCTV contract without following procurement rules, attempting to bribe federal investigators, and manipulating land allocations along the Kaduna-Zaria bypass. El-Rufai pleaded not guilty to every allegation.
Dropping a co-defendant on health grounds may look humane, but it also strips El-Rufai of anyone with whom to share legal blame and public anger. The ICPC's last-minute edit leaves one man carrying the entire N32 billion narrative, a prosecutorial tactic that can backfire if the lone accused convincingly argues that the missing Amadu Sule was the real mastermind.
Kaduna residents should watch the April 14 bail ruling closely; if the judge keeps El-Rufai in custody, the commission gains leverage to push for a swift plea bargain or dramatic disclosures. Yet the same adjournment gives the defence precious weeks to pore over the amended counts and spot contradictions with the earlier version, a delay tactic that has sunk many high-profile graft cases in Nigeria.
For taxpayers, the central issue is the allegedly phantom light-rail project. Every commuter still crawling through Kaduna's traffic is a living reminder that N11 billion left the treasury with nothing to show but a court file. If the funds are not traced and recovered, the message to state officials is clear: inflate a transport dream, pay a shell company, and gamble on a trial that could outlast public memory.
This solitary-dock scenario is becoming a pattern: from ex-governors to serving ministers, prosecutors routinely drop or fail to produce co-accused, leaving the big fish to swim alone while smaller fry disappear on medical or security grounds.
