El-Rufai Files N10bn Suit Against ICPC Over Alleged Denial of Family Access

Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a fresh N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), alleging that the agency denied him access to his wife and son while in detention.

El-Rufai, in the suit filed through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, also joined the ICPC Chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as second and third defendants.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13.

The former governor is asking the court for nine reliefs, including declarations that his fundamental rights under Part IV of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, remain enforceable despite his detention by the anti-corruption agency.

He specifically alleged that the repeated denial of access to his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, had prevented them from providing him with food, medication and other necessities while in custody.

El-Rufai argued that the alleged restriction violated his constitutional rights to dignity and private and family life under Sections 34 and 37 of the Constitution, as well as Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

He also asked the court to declare unlawful the alleged physical restraint, intimidation and treatment of his wife and son by ICPC officers on July 7.

The former governor further alleged that the action amounted to an arbitrary interference with his relationship with his wife and son, describing the continued denial of family access without lawful authority as unconstitutional and illegal.

He is seeking an order directing the respondents to grant him “free and reasonable access” to members of his family and legal representatives throughout his detention, in line with an earlier order of the Federal High Court.

El-Rufai claimed that despite the existing court order permitting his family members and lawyers to visit him, the ICPC had prevented his wife and son from doing so without providing a valid justification.

He alleged that the action had subjected him to humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.

“The respondents’ conduct amounts to an unjustifiable interference with the applicant’s dignity and family life and is therefore unconstitutional,” he stated in the suit.

The former governor also relied on Section 46 of the Constitution and the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, arguing that the court has the responsibility to protect and enforce his fundamental rights.

In an affidavit filed in support of the application, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, said the former governor was being detained at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja.

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

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

He said El-Rufai is the first defendant/applicant in a criminal case, FHC/KD/73C/2025, before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, in which the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the complainant.

Shaba further stated that Justice R. M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, issued an order on April 1 directing the ICPC to allow the defendants access to their lawyers and personal physicians whenever necessary.

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

According to the affidavit, El-Rufai also retains fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, including humane treatment, reasonable access to family members and access to food and medication.

Shaba said Asabe had regularly visited her husband and delivered meals and other items to him before July 7 without obstruction.

He maintained that the visits were conducted in line with the ICPC’s established procedures and El-Rufai’s constitutional and statutory rights.

The suit is the latest legal action by the former governor concerning his detention and treatment by the anti-corruption agency.