Former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai has been exonerated of the charges of power abuse by Abuja High Court in its verdict delivered on Friday morning.

Now a leading member of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, the former FCT minister, was charged under the Corruption and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 for using his position to corruptly revoke a plot of land from its previous owners – Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc – and re-award same to his wife, Hadiza Ahmed El-Rufai.

Reacting swiftly to the news of his acquittal, the former minister said he holds no grudges against his ‘persecutors’.

“It is a vindication he never doubted will come, confident in his innocence and the integrity with which he served this country,” Muyiwa Adekeye, his spokesperson said. “Despite the magnitude of the pains he has endured, El Rufai has decided to put all this in the past. He intends to move on, stepping confidently into the future with forgiveness and goodwill, devoid of the cobwebs of grudge.”

Mr. El-Rufai has been on trial since 2008.