A prominent rights activist has challenged Nigeria's judiciary over bail conditions imposed on former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai. Comrade Ibrahim Garba Wala, known as IG Wala, wants the courts to reconsider what he calls impossible terms.
Wala issued his statement Saturday in Abuja. He was responding to recent comments by the Nigerian Bar Association president on bail weaponization.
According to the activist, courts have twisted bail into something punitive. It's no longer about ensuring trial attendance, he argues.
"El-Rufai's case shows exactly what the NBA condemned," Wala said in his statement. The conditions, he noted, demand multiple sureties from federal civil servants at Grade Level 17 and above.
The bail package also requires original Certificates of Occupancy for properties worth hundreds of millions in expensive Abuja areas. Wala called these demands "logistical absurdities."
"These requirements create an insurmountable barrier," the activist told reporters through his written statement. A Court of Appeal ruling in Dasuki v.
DG, SSS, already established such demands violate public service rules, he added.
Wala contends the stringent conditions keep El-Rufai effectively imprisoned without trial. He says judges are using frustration as a weapon instead of justice.
"His physical well-being is at risk from indefinite confinement," Wala wrote. This has shifted from accountability to calculated psychological torture, he argued.
He praised NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, for speaking against such practices. But Wala went further in his critique.
During his governorship, El-Rufai implemented bold structural reforms in Kaduna. These changes, Wala noted, inevitably created powerful enemies.
According to political analysts cited by Wala, darker forces are at play. Old ideological clashes and historical grievances are fueling current persecution, he suggested.
Certain security officials are settling old scores, Wala alleged. Regional factions are also using this moment to punish El-Rufai's aggressive past policies.
The activist warned that using state machinery for personal vendettas damages judicial credibility. He called on judges to reassert their role as guardians of constitutional justice.
"The courts must live up to their duty as the last hope of justice," Wala insisted. Independent judiciary decisions are essential for Nigeria's democracy, he concluded.
