El Rufai Loses Bid To Quash Charges

An Abuja High Court presided by Justice Sadiq Abubakar Umar on Tuesday, refused an application filed by former Minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and two others, seeking to quash the charges of misconduct and abuse of office filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In his ruling, Justice Umar stated that the consolidated application filed by the former minister and the other accused persons is without merit and that the application failed the test of law.

The court held that EFCC has established a prima-facie case against the accused persons and ordered that they must face trial to defend the charges against them.

The two other accused persons arraigned with el-Rufai are a former Director-General, Abuja Geographic Information System, AGIS, Altine Jubrin, and a former General Manager, Abuja Geographic Information System, AGIS, Ismail Iro.

The judge noted that certain issues contained in the proof of evidence requires explanation which the accused persons can only explain in the course of their trial. He also stated that Section 2 of the ICPC Act was elastic enough to hold the accused persons liable to face trial .

The EFCC had on Wednesday, 6 July, 2011 argued that the three accused persons as public officers, can be tried by EFCC which has authority to prefer charges against them.

Counsel to the EFCC, Chief Adebayo Adelodun, a senior advocate of Nigeria, while opposing the former minister’s application to quash the charges, told the court that it was an abuse of court processes to have brought the same motion which had earlier been ruled upon.

He reminded the court that it had earlier granted EFCC leave to prefer charges against the accused persons and that the court’s decision was borne out of proof that the EFCC had a prima facie case against them.

The senior advocate further averred that the defence counsel’s submission to the effect that el- Rufai was not a public officer but rather a political appointee hence should not be charged under the ICPC’s Act, was erroneous as section 2 of the ICPC Act clearly describes a public officer as one who is employed or engaged in the service of the federation.

He also insisted that the crime for which the ex-minister was being charged was committed before his disengagement in May 29, 2007.

The case was adjourned till November 15 and 16 for accelerated hearing.

El-Rufai and his co-accused were initially re-arraigned on 17 April, 2011. Their arraignment followed a petition to EFCC, chronicling allegations of abuse of office against el-Rufai and how he misappropriated government land which he allocated to his friends and family members, in flagrant breach of the Abuja Master plan.

According to the petition, the former minister, between 2003-2007, allocated ten plots of land in choice areas of Abuja and in various sizes to his family members, including his wife, Hadiza Isma el-Rufai, who got two plots- one in the Asokoro district and the other in the Kubwa district. Ten other family members and relations were also allocated different plots of land at various locations in the FCT.

El-Rufai was granted bail on self-recognition by Justice Umar.

One of the charges reads: “That you Mallam Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai (M) between 13th day of December, 2003 and 14th of December, 2007 or thereabouts at the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in the course of and or in the performance of your official duties as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory did use your said Office and position to gratify and confer corrupt or unfair advantage on your relation to wit your wife Hadiza Ahmed el-Rufai by reallocating to her parts of the parcel of land known as plot No 1201, Asokoro District (A4) Abuja, originally allocated in the Federal Capital Territory Master plan to power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc for the construction of transmitting/ injection sub-stations which fully and/or intentionally revoked for that purpose, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under section 19 of the corrupt and Other related Offences act, 2000”.

By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja