A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna State has adjourned proceedings in the trial of a former governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai, until June 24, 2026.

The case, brought by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), involves allegations of abuse of office, fraud, and financial misconduct during his tenure as governor.

El-Rufai, through his lawyers, has consistently denied all allegations against him.

At the resumed trial on Monday, the former governor was brought to the court at about 9:30am, accompanied by ICPC officials and operatives of the Department of State Services and the police.

Previous hearings focused on El-Rufai’s bail application and related legal arguments.

Prosecutors allege that funds were improperly released for projects that were either not executed or were irregularly managed.

El-Rufai has denied all the charges and maintains his innocence.

At Monday’s sitting, the court was expected to continue hearing motions and arguments from both the prosecution and defence as the case progresses.

On April 14, 2026, the presiding judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, granted the former governor bail in the sum of ₦200 million, with conditions including two sureties — one being a serving or retired civil servant on Grade Level 15, and the other a recognised traditional ruler.

While El-Rufai’s lawyers applied to the Federal High Court for the variation of the bail conditions , a Kaduna State High Court presided over by Justice Darius Khobo denied him bail, citing concerns that his influence could interfere with investigations into serious corruption allegations brought by the ICPC.

The former governor was in court for the continuation of his trial; the court, however, adjourned the case to June 28, due to the absence of two defendants charged along with him.

The Fifth Prosecution Witness (PW5) in the trial of former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, clarified issues surrounding the certification of the extract of the minutes of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of May 21, 2003, before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Apo, Abuja, following a formal request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for certified extracts of the meeting.

The former minister is facing prosecution on an amended seven-count charge bordering on alleged official corruption and the fraudulent award of the Mambilla Power Project contract worth $6 billion to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited.

The witness, Iliya John Iyakwari, an Assistant Director of Legal in the Federal Ministry of Justice, currently serving in the Federal Ministry of Power as an Assistant Legal Adviser since August 2014, stated during cross-examination by defence counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, that the request for a certified copy of the extract of the FEC meeting of May 21, 2003, was received from the EFCC in July 2023.

He explained that the certification was eventually done in 2024 because, upon receipt of the request letter from the User Department, the Legal Department forwarded a memo to the EFCC dated July 27, 2023, but the initial copy sent to the Commission was not certified, prompting the EFCC to return it.

“It was after it was received by the EFCC in July 2023 that they realised the extract was not certified. So, in January 2024, a staff of the EFCC brought back Exhibit Three K to my Legal Adviser, and the name of the EFCC staff is Babangida.

“He brought it personally and reminded my director that it was not certified. My director then gave me the document to certify. That is why my lord will see on the face of the document that the date it was certified, January 26, 2024, is different from the date it was forwarded. It was in the process of certification that I mistakenly stamped the original forwarding letter dated June 27, 2023. After stamping the document, I gave it back to my director, who I believe handed it over to Babangida because I left them afterwards,” he said.

When asked whether his earlier testimony suggesting certification in June 2023 was contradictory, prosecution counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, defended the witness’ position, insisting that the testimony was not contradictory and that court records spoke for themselves.

“My lord, I object to this particular question anchored on Exhibit PW5A, which was just tendered in court. What I see in our record, and what I believe is reflected in the records of the court, is that in his explanation, he summarised that all these activities were done in June 2023; he never said the certification was done in 2023.

“This objection is founded on Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is superior to the Evidence Act. We will rely on the record of the court, particularly line 16,” he said.

The witness was also asked whether the document tendered in court by Babangida during his testimony was a different extract of the FEC meeting from the one he certified.

The prosecution counsel again objected, arguing that the witness, in line with court procedure, was absent from the courtroom during Babangida’s testimony and therefore could not be cross-examined on a document that was not tendered through him. He cited the case of Buhari v. INEC & Others (2008).

Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter until June 18 and July 2, 2026, for the continuation of trial.

The 12th Prosecution Witness (PW12), Christopher Odofin, in the trial of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, told Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, how Sirika allegedly passed off an aircraft belonging to Ethiopian Airlines as the promised Nigeria Air by the government of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

The decoy aircraft, adorned with the livery of the proposed Nigeria Air, landed on the tarmac of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 27, 2023, three days before the expiration of the Buhari administration, and was flown back to Addis Ababa on the morning of May 29, 2023, the handover date to the succeeding government.

Hadi Sirika is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended six-count charge bordering on alleged abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds amounting to over ₦2 billion, alongside his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika; son-in-law, Hamma Jalal Sule; and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.

The contract for the establishment of Nigeria Air was awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited, a company belonging to Gabriel Tilmann, described as a close associate and friend of the former minister.

Reading from a portion of the contract agreement with Ethiopian Airlines, the witness, an investigator with the EFCC, stated: “The aircraft will depart from Addis Ababa (ADD) late evening of May 26, 2023, for it to be positioned early morning of May 27, 2023, at the Abuja (ABV) airport. The aircraft will stay at ABV airport for the static display of Nigeria Air livery until May 28, 2023. The aircraft will leave ABV airport early morning on May 29, 2023. The chartered flight will be operated by Ethiopian Airlines crew in Ethiopian Airlines uniforms. The Federal Government of Nigeria and Nigeria Air may put together local models who will be in Nigeria Air uniforms to pose for ceremonial pictures. The models may come to Addis Ababa so they may fly with the chartered flight to ABV.”

The witness told the court that the display of the aircraft at the Abuja International Airport was deliberately planned to coincide with the end of the first defendant’s tenure as Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development on May 29, 2023, and to present the aircraft as evidence of the actualisation of his promise to revive Nigeria Air.

He further stated that after the less-than-72-hour display, the Nigeria Air logo was removed from the aircraft and it was returned to Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa.

According to the witness, the investigating team also established that Ethiopian Airlines entered into a charter arrangement for the static display of the Nigeria Air livery for only three days, from May 27 to May 29, 2023. This was based on documents and information received from the airline in a letter dated June 12, 2023, sent in response to the EFCC’s request for information regarding Nigeria Air.

He added that although the contract was purportedly for the establishment of Nigeria Air, the charter agreement with Ethiopian Airlines was entered into on May 24, 2023—just five days before the expiration of Sirika’s tenure—and was solely for a static display of the Nigeria Air logo on an aircraft.

All documents tendered in evidence by the prosecution were shown to have been duly signed, authorised, and accompanied by certificates of identification. None of the counsel representing the four defendants objected to their admissibility.

Among the exhibits was a compact disc containing a voice note from the first defendant, Hadi Sirika, marked as Exhibit 37, which prosecution counsel applied to be played in court at the next adjourned date.

Further in his testimony, the witness disclosed that although the contract for the start-up of Nigeria Air was initially awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited for over ₦299 million on April 4, 2022, the company later received a contract extension on October 17, 2022, increasing the sum to over ₦599 million. He alleged that the extension was granted on the instructions and directives of the first defendant due to his relationship with the company’s alter ego.

According to him: “The investigating team arrived at this position when the phone of one Enitan Muyiwa Abel, who was a Permanent Secretary in the first defendant’s ministry, was analysed, revealing a voice note sent to the Permanent Secretary while the first defendant was in Spain, instructing him to ensure that the contract was awarded to Tianaero Nigeria Limited.”

Justice Oriji adjourned the matter until June 17, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.