A Kaduna State High Court has once again denied bail to Alhaji Bashir Sa’idu, the former Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, and ordered his return to detention.
Sa’idu is facing 10 charges related to alleged money laundering, embezzlement, and theft.
The charges were read aloud in court on Tuesday before Justice Isa Aliyu, with Sa’idu pleading not guilty to the allegations.
Among the charges, it was claimed that Sa’idu, during his tenure as the Commissioner for Finance in 2022, sold $45 million in government hard currency at a rate far below the parallel market rate, causing the state to lose approximately N3.96 billion.
The prosecution accuses Sa’idu of laundering this amount in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Sa’idu’s defense lawyer, M. I. Abubakar, applied for bail, noting that his client had been in custody for 21 days following his arrest on January 2, 2025.
Abubakar argued that bail would provide Sa’idu with the opportunity to properly prepare his defense against the charges.
However, the prosecution, led by Professor Nasiru Aliyu, opposed the bail request, citing legal provisions that require the prosecution a seven-day period to respond to a bail application.
After a brief recess, Justice Aliyu ruled that the prosecution should be given the necessary time to respond and adjourned the case until January 23, 2025, for further hearing on the bail application.
