El-Rufai: Atiku warns against using courts to punish opposition

By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the refusal of the Federal High Court to review bail conditions imposed on former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, describing the conditions as practically impossible to satisfy and warning that the development represents a dangerous pattern of weaponising legal processes against political opponents.

Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said the situation raises troubling questions about constitutional liberties and the administration of justice in Nigeria.

The former vice president argued that while courts possess discretionary authority to impose bail conditions, such discretion must be exercised judicially and judiciously, insisting that conditions that are manifestly excessive, unreasonable, or impossible to fulfil defeat the very purpose of bail and amount to detention through procedural means.

“The law is settled that an accused person remains innocent until proven guilty. Bail exists to preserve that constitutional protection. It was never designed to become a sophisticated instrument for punishment before conviction,” Atiku said.

He questioned the rationale behind conditions that require a defendant to produce a serving Grade Level 17 federal civil servant who must also own verifiable property in Maitama or Asokoro, in addition to a maze of other requirements.

Atiku warned that the implications of such precedents extend beyond El-Rufai’s case.

“This is not merely about one individual. It is about the principles that underpin a democratic society governed by the rule of law. Today it is El-Rufai. Tomorrow it could be any citizen whose liberty depends not on the law but on whether he can satisfy conditions that few Nigerians can ever meet,” he said.

The former vice president expressed particular concern over what he described as an emerging pattern across the country in which opposition figures and critics of government find themselves entangled in legal and administrative battles.

He urged the judiciary to resist any perception that justice was available only in theory but unreachable in practice, warning that at a time of unprecedented strain on public trust in institutions, judicial decisions must inspire confidence in the fairness, impartiality, and accessibility of justice.

“Bail conditions should secure attendance in court, not guarantee continued incarceration,” he said.

He argued that when a citizen is told he has been granted bail but is simultaneously subjected to conditions that make release virtually impossible, such a situation constitutes a constructive denial of bail that undermines the spirit of the Constitution.

“The question of guilt or innocence is entirely for the courts to determine. What concerns every patriot is whether constitutional safeguards are being faithfully upheld. The right to liberty, the presumption of innocence, and the right to fair hearing are not privileges to be dispensed at convenience. They are constitutional guarantees.

“Nigeria’s democracy is strongest when justice is blind to politics, immune from pressure, and accessible to all. Anything less diminishes us as a nation,” he declared.

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