By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The family of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has demanded his immediate release, saying his continued detention by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is unlawful.
This was contained in a statement signed and posted via Facebook on Friday, March 6, by El-Rufai’s son, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai.
In the statement, the family said the 14-day remand order obtained by the ICPC from a magistrates’ court on February 19 had lapsed without the commission charging the former governor before any court of competent jurisdiction.
The statement read: “As of today, March 6, 2026, Nasir El-Rufai remains in ICPC custody under circumstances that have no basis in law. We state categorically that there is currently no valid legal instrument authorizing his detention.”
This comes as El-Rufai spends 18 days in the custody of both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the ICPC.
The former governor has been held in custody since voluntarily reporting to the EFCC’s office on February 16, before being transferred to the ICPC on the night of February 18.
The family stated that the ICPC secured a remand order on February 19 that was “defective from the outset” and provided only a 14-day window for detention.
In court filings before the FCT High Court, the ICPC pledged to draw up charges against the former governor before March 5 when the detention order was set to lapse.
The ICPC is investigating multiple corruption allegations against El-Rufai, including the whereabouts of €1.4 million, suspicious payments totalling over N2.1 billion, and transfers to undisclosed accounts amounting to more than N428 million.
However, the former governor’s family insisted the ICPC failed to charge him and has not secured any fresh detention order, describing the continued detention as “unlawful, brazen self-help.”
“The ICPC has not charged him with any offence in a competent court. Neither have they secured a fresh or extended lawful order to continue detaining him,” the statement said.
The family also alleged that the commission was being used as a tool for political persecution, saying, “Their refusal to do so confirms what we have long feared — that the ICPC is being wielded as a tool for political persecution rather than operating as an impartial institution of justice.”
In a pre-action notice on March 4, El-Rufai’s legal team had accused the ICPC of contempt of court, malicious prosecution, defamation, abuse of office, forgery, and unlawful detention.
The legal team also separately served notice of a N15.6 billion damages claim on the ICPC, its chairman, and other officials, describing a press statement issued by the commission on March 2 as defamatory and misleading.
Recall that the ICPC had told an FCT High Court that it recovered electronic equipment allegedly capable of intercepting telephone conversations during a search of El-Rufai’s Abuja residence.
