By Ayodele Oni
“The filed applications (by former Counsel) sounds confrontational. I cannot adopt the same language used” – El-Rufai’s new Counsel
A Kaduna High Court has adjourned hearing in the corruption trial case of the former state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, till July 22.
The adjournment followed fresh application by new counsel to the former Governor who sought to withdraw some applications filed earlier.
The adjournment will allow the court to decide on the fresh application, which the prosecution counsel opposed.
In what is seen as part of move to ensure accelerated hearing in the case before the State High Court, El-Rufai, through his new counsel withdrew three applications previously filed by his legal team in his ongoing corruption trial.
The former Governor also through his new counsel apologized to the Court.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, El-Rufai’s new lead counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN), sought the court’s permission to discontinue the applications, describing them as confrontational in nature.
Erokoro, who recently took over the defence, pointed out that after reviewing the filings, he could not adopt some of the language used in the earlier applications and, therefore, filed a fresh application.
He urged the Court to grant him more time to file the new application and formally withdraw the pending ones.
Responding, prosecution Counsel Ibrahim Muktar opposed the move, arguing that the defence had continued to file multiple applications seeking the trial Judge’s recusal, a development he described as an attempt to delay the trial.
Muktar said the prosecution had assembled its witnesses for the hearing on July 6, but proceedings could not commence because of the applications filed by the defence.
According to him, the repeated applications have frustrated efforts to begin the substantive trial despite the prosecution’s readiness to proceed.
Following the defence’s request, the court adjourned the matter until July 22, 2026, for hearing on the fresh application.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
