El-Rufai Files Fresh N10bn Suit Against ICPC

Former governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has instituted a fresh N10 billion suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over the alleged denial of access to his wife and son while in custody.

El-Rufai, through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, filed the suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja, joining the ICPC Chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as second and third defendants.

Politics Nigeria learnt that the originating motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, was filed on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

The former governor is seeking nine reliefs, including declarations that his fundamental rights remain enforceable despite his detention and that the alleged repeated denial of access to his family members constitutes a violation of his constitutional rights.

El-Rufai alleged that his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, were prevented from seeing him despite an existing court order permitting access to his family members and lawyers.

According to him, the alleged denial has also prevented his family from providing him with food, medication and other necessities while in detention.

He contended that the action violated his rights to dignity and private and family life as guaranteed under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as relevant provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The former governor also accused ICPC officers of physically restraining, intimidating and subjecting his wife and son to alleged ill-treatment on July 7, describing the incident as an arbitrary interference with his spousal and filial relationships.

He urged the court to declare the continued denial of access to his family unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

El-Rufai further asked the court to order the respondents to grant him unhindered and reasonable access to his family members and legal representatives throughout his detention.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, deposed to by El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, it was stated that the former governor is being detained at the ICPC’s Abuja office.

Shaba said the information contained in the affidavit was supplied to him by Asabe on July 12.

According to him, Asabe had personally been responsible for providing her husband with food, clothing, medication and other necessities required for his welfare since his detention.

The affidavit further stated that El-Rufai is the first defendant in charge number FHC/KD/73C/2025, pending before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, where the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the complainant.

Shaba recalled that on April 1, Justice R. M. Aikawa of the Kaduna division of the Federal High Court ordered the ICPC to allow the defendants access to their lawyers and personal physicians whenever necessary.

He argued that the order underscored the principle that detainees should not be held incommunicado and that detention conditions remain subject to judicial oversight.

The former governor maintained that, in addition to the court order, he retains fundamental rights under the Constitution and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, including humane treatment and reasonable access to family members.

Shaba said Asabe had regularly visited her husband and delivered meals and other items to him before July 7 without obstruction, in accordance with the ICPC’s established visiting procedures.

El-Rufai is being prosecuted before a federal high court in Abuja by ICPC over allegations of abuse of office, financial impropriety and fraud allegedly committed during his tenure as governor of Kaduna State.