Security was heightened on Tuesday around the Federal High Court in Kaduna as operatives of various agencies took positions ahead of the arraignment of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over alleged corruption-related offences.
As early as 7:00 a.m., heavily armed personnel drawn from the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, the Mobile Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were deployed to strategic points leading to the court premises located at the old Nigerian Defence Academy.
Vehicular movement was restricted, with motorists forced into a single lane from the Ungwan Sarki axis through Kawo, causing early morning traffic disruptions.
The development followed an earlier announcement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission that it would arraign El-Rufai on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, before the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna.
The anti-graft agency, in a Monday statement by its Head of Media and Public Communications, John Odey, disclosed that El-Rufai would be arraigned alongside one Joel Adoga in suit number FHC/KD/73/2026.
According to the commission, the charges border on alleged conversion and possession of public property, as well as money laundering.
“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission is set to arraign the former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i, and one Joel Adoga at the Federal High Court of Nigeria in the Kaduna Judicial Division on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. The charges range from conversion of and possession of public property to money laundering,” the statement read.