Breaking: El-Rufai Begins Fresh Battle With FG, Takes Bold Action Against ICPC as Details Emerge
- El-Rufai filed a fresh N10bn fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13, 2026
- The former Kaduna governor alleged ICPC officers physically restrained his wife and son on July 7 when they tried to visit him
- The suit named the ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation as second and third defendants
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Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has taken the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to court for the second time this year, filing a N10 billion fundamental rights suit over the alleged blocking of his wife and son from visiting him in custody.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13 through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan. El-Rufai joined the ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation as second and third defendants alongside the commission itself.
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Source: Twitter
What El-Rufai is alleging
According to the former governor, ICPC officers physically restrained and intimidated his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and his son, Abba El-Rufai, on July 7 when they attempted to visit him at the ICPC's Abuja office where he is being held. He said the incident amounted to an arbitrary interference with his spousal and family relationships.
El-Rufai claimed that before July 7, Asabe had visited him regularly and delivered food, clothing, medication and other personal items without difficulty. The alleged denial of access, he argued, cut off those supplies and caused him "humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress."
His Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, filed a supporting affidavit saying the information was supplied to him by Asabe on July 12. Shaba noted that Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court's Kaduna division had, on April 1, ordered the ICPC to allow defendants access to their lawyers and personal physicians. El-Rufai's team argues that order reflects a broader legal principle that detainees cannot be held without contact with the outside world.
The nine reliefs El-Rufai is seeking
El-Rufai is asking the court for nine reliefs in total. Chief among them is a declaration that his fundamental rights under Part IV of the 1999 Constitution remain enforceable despite his detention.
He is also seeking a declaration that the ICPC's refusal to grant family access, without a court order or lawful justification, violated Sections 34 and 37 of the Constitution and Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
He wants the court to order the respondents to grant him "unhindered and reasonable access to members of his family and counsel throughout the period of his detention."
El-Rufai is currently the first defendant in charge number FHC/KD/73C/2025, a case pending before the Federal High Court in Kaduna in which the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the complainant.
This is the second major legal action he has launched against the ICPC in 2026. In February, he filed a separate N1bn fundamental rights suit, later amended, challenging the validity of a search warrant used to raid his Abuja residence, and seeking declarations that the search violated his rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy.
El-Rufai: ADC fires shot at Tinubu
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Bolaji Abdullahi, the national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warned that President Bola Tinubu will bear personal responsibility if any harm comes to former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai while in custody.
Abdullahi made the remarks during an interview on Symfoni, saying el-Rufai's deteriorating health in detention is a matter of serious concern. He argued that the circumstances surrounding the former governor's prolonged custody have less to do with law and more to do with political calculations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Source: Legit.ng
