El-Rufai: Life is a lesson

On Tuesday, a Kaduna High Court refused embattled former Governor Nasir El-Rufai bail and adjourned the corruption case against him till June. El-Rufai is standing trial for a bailable offence, making laymen to wonder why the court did not exercise its discretion in his favour. Not many know that an offence may be bailable, yet it is still at the court’s discretion to grant or refuse bail.

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  It is not automatic to grant bail because an offence is bailable, if there is a need to protect the process. Many lawyers know this position of the law. But they will not come clean where the tide is against them. If the court is convinced that the defendant will jump bail; disrupt investigation, where it is ongoing, or tamper with witnesses, the judge is not bound to grant bail. The court has only exercised its discretion not to grant El-Rufai bail. Its position accords with the provision of the law.

  For those who do not know, the same law that says murder and armed robbery are not bailable grants the court the power to exercise its discretion to grant bail in exceptional circumstances, especially where a serious health issue is involved. The essence of bail is to ensure that the defendant is not kept too long in custody while his case is progressing. El-Rufai may yet get bail on appeal, but the lesson of what is happening should not be lost on us all.