Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai was arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC at the Federal High Court in Kaduna on Tuesday, following a 38-day detention period linked to corruption allegations.

Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa presided over the arraignment of El-Rufai on a 10-count charge of money laundering and illegal conversion and possession of state property. The court subsequently fixed March 31, 2026, to hear pending applications, including a bail request by the former governor.

El-Rufai’s counsel, Ubong Akpan, informed journalists after the proceedings that the case was largely relating to the monetisation of his client's earnings and alleged deposits into his domiciliary account.

“Out of 10 counts, they joined him on only one,” Akpan stated.

He revealed that the defence team raised objections to the arraignment, citing a pending matter concerning the presiding judge, but noted that the court continued regardless.

“What we have now is that they applied to arraign, and I respectfully pointed out that since Malam El-Rufai has a pending proceeding with respect to the judge himself, the court cannot proceed. However, the judge, in his wisdom, decided to go ahead with the arraignment,” he said.

The lawyer also noted that the court postponed the case to March 31 to deal with all El-Rufai’s remaining legal filings.

Confirming the issue of his client's release, Akpan said no application was made during Tuesday’s proceedings.

“It cannot be made for bail today because the application was made for arraignment today. It was postponed to the 31st of this month to hear the application for bail,” he explained.

The defence counsel noted he was unaware of any other charges against his client until they were formally served. Meanwhile, the ICPC legal team declined comments when approached by journalists after the court session.