El-Rufai files ₦10bn suit against ICPC over alleged denial of family access

Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai is reportedly suing the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for N10 billion, citing violation of his fundamental rights.

The suit, which is captioned FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, has been filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Through his legal representative, Mr Ubong Akpan, El-Rufai claims that the ICPC continually denied his wife Aichatou Asabe and son Abba El-Rufai access to him during detention.

According to him, the act made it difficult for his family members to provide him with basic necessities including food and medication.

The former governor is asking the court to declare that the refusal to grant his family access to him, particularly without lawful justification or a court order, violated his fundamental rights under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

El-Rufai alleged that ICPC officials physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son 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 without lawful authority unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

The ICPC and its chairman were listed as the first and second respondents, while the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice was joined as the third respondent.

Among the reliefs sought, El-Rufai asked the court to order the respondents to grant him unhindered and reasonable access to his family members and counsel throughout his detention, in line with an earlier directive of the Federal High Court.

He argued that the denial of access to his wife and son had subjected him to “humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.”

According to him, the respondents acted “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.”

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

The latest suit is the second fundamental rights action filed by the former governor against the ICPC.

In an earlier N1 billion suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, El-Rufai challenged the legality of a search of his Abuja residence by the anti-corruption agency.

The former governor, who served from 2015 to 2023, is facing multiple cases before courts in Abuja and Kaduna.

One of the cases involves an allegation that he was complicit in the unlawful interception of telephone communications involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Although a court in Abuja granted him bail on stringent conditions, a Kaduna court subsequently approved his continued detention in ICPC custody while directing that he be allowed access to his family, lawyer and physician.