Fresh legal documents have revealed a series of corruption, fraud, and money laundering charges filed against former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, over alleged financial misconduct during his time in office.
The charges, filed at both the Federal High Court and Kaduna State High Court, accuse El-Rufai of illegally receiving huge sums of money, abusing office, and engaging in financial transactions linked to proceeds of unlawful acts.
According to the Federal High Court charge sheet, El-Rufai allegedly received N289.8 million as severance allowance—an amount said to be over and above his legitimate entitlement and equivalent to 300 per cent of his annual basic salary.
He is also accused of taking control of various sums in foreign currency, including $320,800, $305,300, and other dollar deposits paid into his domiciliary account in tranches by different individuals, allegedly linked to corruption proceeds.
In addition, the charges include allegations of conspiracy with associates to disguise the origin of funds, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Separately, documents from the Kaduna State High Court accuse the former governor of fraudulently approving payments, including an N11 billion contract for a light rail project awarded to an unregistered company, which was allegedly never executed.
The state-level charges also allege that El-Rufai abused his office to award multi-billion naira CCTV contracts in violation of procurement laws, and mismanaged over $1 million in loan funds obtained from the World Bank.
Further counts accuse him and associates of conspiracy, bribery, and criminal breach of trust, including attempts to influence investigators and illegal allocation of land to connected entities.
The charges, which span multiple years between 2015 and 2023, were filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Legal proceedings are expected to commence following the filing of the charges, marking a significant development in ongoing anti-corruption efforts involving former public officials.
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