Asia Ahmad El-Rufai, wife of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and a lawyer in her own right, has given a detailed account of how bail conditions imposed by the courts in her husband’s multiple criminal cases have made his release practically impossible, arguing that the terms are designed to be unachievable rather than to secure his attendance at trial, that the arrest of his personal physician is “weaponising healthcare” in a manner that will make professionals afraid to give professional opinions, and that “there must be some politics going on” in the manner her husband is being treated.
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Asia Ahmad El-Rufai spoke during an Arise TV interview in which she addressed the constitutional rights she believes are being violated, the specific bail conditions imposed across multiple courts, the practical impossibility of meeting those conditions, the arrest of her husband’s personal physician, and her appeal to President Bola Tinubu to “tell them to do the right thing.”
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated that her husband faces charges in multiple courts, including the ICPC, the DSS, and both the Kaduna and Abuja divisions of the Federal High Court, and that the offences charged are “clearly bailable offences under Nigerian law.”
“Malam has been accused of offences in different courts and those charges are clearly bailable offences under the Nigerian law. He has applied for bail severally,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated.
She said that in the High Court, he was denied bail entirely. In the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, Justice Akawa granted him bail, but with terms that she described as “not viable.”
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai described the bail conditions imposed by Justice Akawa in the Kaduna Federal High Court in detail, revealing a chain of requirements where each link is practically unachievable.
The terms required two sureties of N200 million each, with property worth N200 million in the Kaduna metropolis (GRA Kaduna). Additionally, the Traditional Council of Kaduna State was required to provide an attestation.
“Efforts to get this became impossible. The Traditional Council would not give that attestation,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated. When asked what reason the Traditional Council gave, she responded: “They gave no reason directly. They just said that they are unable to do it.”
The impossibility compounded further. To post bail using property, the original certificate of occupancy must be submitted, which requires verification at the land registry.
“Now before you submit that original certificate, you need to go to the land registry and have it verified. The land registry in Kaduna State was shut down at that period,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai disclosed.
“So what do I say? You’re stuck in the mud,” she stated.
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai described equally prohibitive bail conditions imposed by the Federal High Court in Abuja on the DSS charges for alleged wiretapping.
The bail was set at N100 million. The surety must be a civil servant of Grade Level 17 or above who must have a house or property in Maitama or Asokoro (among Abuja’s most expensive districts). The civil servant must post a bond certified by their bank manager, obtain a letter of attestation from their immediate supervisor confirming their status as a federal government worker, submit their letter of employment, provide three months’ bank statements, and submit six months’ tax clearance certificates.
“Now, who will do that amongst civil servants?” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai asked. “If you’re going to be fair, they may have the properties. We’re not denying that they do, but do you open yourself to scrutiny? Would anybody be willing to open himself to scrutiny?”
She explained the practical dilemma: “How did you get this? I mean, property in Maitama or Asokoro, we’re talking about hundreds of millions, possibly even billions. So nobody wants to come out and say that. Even if you inherited it, your salary is N7.5 million annually. Can you still have N100 million in the bank? It’s practically impossible.”
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai invoked the fundamental principle that bail should be free, while acknowledging the court’s right to impose conditions.
“The law says bail is free. This is what we have been taught. But the courts are allowed to put terms. What is the essence of bail? The bail is just to ensure that the defendant or the accused person is present during trial,” she stated.
She argued that her husband’s conduct demonstrated that he posed no flight risk. “Malam brought himself when he got the invitation. He responded and said, ‘I’m coming.’ He came. He submitted himself. A person that is going to jump bail, would he willingly, he was out of the country. He could have stayed there, but he came back.”
She noted that there was no previous occasion on which her husband had jumped bail, and that when the EFCC previously granted him bail on self-recognisance after he left office as minister, “the trial went on, he was there at every sitting, and he was vindicated.”
“So I honestly don’t know where this fear of giving him bail is coming from,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated.
When pressed on whether she attributed the situation to the prosecuting agencies or the courts, Asia Ahmad El-Rufai was careful but pointed.
“As a lawyer, I wouldn’t want to speculate on issues about courts because the matter is in court and I don’t want to be prejudicial about it. But the agencies themselves, I can speak about the agencies. They are the ones that took him to court. They’re the ones that oppose the bail. They are the ones that say this guy is a flight risk,” she stated.
“I don’t want to speculate, but as a Nigerian, as a human being, I don’t think it is wrong if I say there must be some politics going on,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai declared.
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai expressed deep concern about the arrest of her husband’s personal physician, Professor Bello, who she said had been El-Rufai’s doctor “since Malam was DG of BPE,” a relationship spanning decades.
“The fact that we’re weaponising healthcare. If doctors become afraid to offer opinions, what does it say? It’s not about Nasir El-Rufai anymore. It’s about the fact that professionals are being muzzled so that they are afraid to give professional opinions,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated.
She connected the arrest to the broader problem of brain drain: “We have been saying that our people are running away to go abroad to be doctors and all that. This is one example of what will make somebody leave.”
She disclosed that the doctor’s arrest warrant cited a violation of the ICPC Act but “no section of the ICPC Act was quoted for anything.”
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai also described how the ICPC was interpreting a court order allowing medical visits too narrowly. She recounted that the family requested a 5:00 PM appointment to reduce public contact, but after the consultation, while El-Rufai waited in the reception for his medical report, other visitors at the hospital recognised him and approached to greet him.
“Malam is a prominent person. People come to greet him. And so if in the process something went wrong, people that they didn’t want to see happened to be there, how do you blame him? He had conversations in a public place. It’s not as if it was a closed-door meeting. He does not have access to a phone. How is it that he arranged to have a meeting with politicians?” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai asked.
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated that her husband had been held for over 140 days for offences that are bailable under Nigerian law.
“You are saying you are keeping somebody for 140-something days for a bailable offence. Who does that? Under what law, if I may ask, do they have that right to do this?” she asked.
She cited the constitutional provision on the right to liberty: “The fundamental right says within 48 hours you have to take him to court. He was kept for longer than that before he was finally taken to court.”
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai described the toll on her family. “When you deny somebody access to medical treatment or his doctors or his family members, you are isolating him. Aside the medical implication, there’s also the psychological implication. Basically, we the family are also traumatised. We live in constant fear that we will wake up and hear some bad news. We will wake up and we will be apprehended.”
She acknowledged the social media reports about her husband being poisoned or killed, stating: “I don’t want to speculate, but I am a human being. I have seen reports. I have seen social media postings.”
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai made clear that her appeal to President Tinubu was not for the president to interfere with the criminal proceedings.
“Just to tell them to allow the law to take its course. Give him fair hearing, allow the courts to be the arbiters,” she stated.
She reminded the president of their political relationship: “My husband supported President Tinubu because he’s an honourable man. He said we agreed, we had a gentleman’s agreement that power should move to the south in 2023. He fought everyone. He even fought President Buhari. He took the president to court just to ensure that this agreement stood.”
“So yes, I brought it up because it is normal to expect basic courtesy from somebody that you’ve done so much for,” she added.
But she framed the appeal in terms that transcended her husband’s individual case: “It’s not about El-Rufai alone. If people lose faith in the rule of law, anarchy is the consequence. Mr President, it is important that you as the head of a family, because Nigeria is a family, should put your foot down and say that let’s do things properly. Let’s give people the confidence to know that if they’ve done something, they will get fairness.”
When asked about suggestions that her husband was being held because he is perceived as a political threat, Asia Ahmad El-Rufai responded with a direct challenge.
“They see him as a threat. Is he a threat? Why don’t they test it? Why don’t they let him go and see whether he’s actually a threat or not? What is the fear? What can he do? He’s a human being. He’s a single person. Yes, he’s intelligent. Yes, he’s smart. Yes, he’s strategic. Yes, he’s influential. But isn’t politics all about competition? Why are we afraid of competition? If we know we’ve done well, why should we run away from facing the opposition?” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated.
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai concluded by anchoring her appeal not in her personal circumstances but in the broader principles at stake.
“I am Malam’s wife and as his wife I’m worried and I would appeal for fairness on his behalf. But beyond that, I am a Nigerian. I am a human being. I am a lawyer. I would want to see a Nigeria where the rule of law is respected, where it doesn’t matter who you are, but you are equal, which is what is supposed to be before the law,” she stated.
“If somebody has done something wrong, please take him to court and prosecute him. But in the process of doing this prosecution, you must follow the tenets of the law. You must have empathy,” Asia Ahmad El-Rufai stated.
The interview was conducted by Arise TV. Asia Ahmad El-Rufai is a lawyer and the wife of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who faces multiple criminal charges before the ICPC, the DSS, and the Federal High Courts in Kaduna and Abuja.
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