Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a fresh N10 billion lawsuit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, over alleged restrictions on visits by his family members while he remains in custody.
The suit, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13, 2026, seeks to enforce what El-Rufai described as his fundamental rights during detention.
El-Rufai, through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, alleged that ICPC officials prevented his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and his son, Abba El-Rufai, from visiting him.
The former governor also joined the ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation as defendants in the suit.
El-Rufai is asking the court to declare that his constitutional rights remain protected despite his detention. He argued that preventing his family from accessing him, particularly when they wanted to provide food, medication and other necessities, was unlawful.
He further alleged that ICPC officers physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son on July 7, describing the incident as an unjustified interference with his family relationships.
Among other reliefs, El-Rufai is asking the court to declare that “the respondents’ continued denial of family access without lawful authority is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.”
He also wants an order compelling the ICPC to provide him with “unhindered and reasonable access to members of his family and counsel throughout the period of his detention as earlier directed by the Federal High Court.”
The former governor claimed that the alleged restrictions had caused him humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.
He accused the ICPC of acting “arbitrarily, unlawfully and in a manner inconsistent with Sections 34, 37 and 46 of the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
In an affidavit supporting the suit, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, stated that the former governor was being held at the ICPC office in Abuja.
Shaba said El-Rufai’s wife had regularly provided him with food, clothing, medication and other personal necessities while he remained in custody.
He also referred to an earlier order by Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna, which directed the ICPC to allow access to lawyers and personal doctors whenever necessary.
According to Shaba, the order demonstrated that detainees should not be held incommunicado and that the ICPC remains subject to judicial oversight regarding the conditions of detention.
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