Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a fresh N10 billion suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing the agency of violating his fundamental rights by restricting access to his family while in detention.
The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026.
El-Rufai is challenging what he described as repeated attempts by the ICPC to prevent his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and his son, Abba El-Rufai, from visiting him and providing him with food, medication and other personal necessities.
He is asking the court to declare the alleged restrictions unlawful and a violation of his rights to dignity and private and family life under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The former governor also alleged that ICPC officers physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son when they attempted to see him on July 7.
According to his application, the alleged treatment amounted to an unjustified interference in his relationship with his family and caused him “humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.”
El-Rufai is also seeking an order directing the ICPC to allow him “unhindered and reasonable access” to his family members and legal representatives throughout his detention, relying on an earlier court order granting such access.
In an affidavit filed in support of the case, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, said his wife had been responsible for taking food, clothing, medication and other necessities to him since his detention.
Shaba further stated that the Kaduna Division of the Federal High Court had, on April 1, directed the ICPC to give El-Rufai access to his lawyers and personal physicians whenever required.
He argued that the order reinforced the principle that a detainee should not be held incommunicado and that the conditions of El-Rufai’s detention remained subject to judicial oversight.
The ICPC, however, has disputed the claim that it has blocked El-Rufai’s family from seeing him.
The commission’s spokesperson, John Odey, told Blueprint that the agency had continued to comply with the court’s directive.
“We have never denied access to Governor El-Rufai’s family in accordance with court order,” Odey said, adding that he did not have details of the new suit.
The latest case is the second fundamental rights action filed by El-Rufai against the ICPC this year.
He had earlier instituted a N1 billion suit challenging the search of his Abuja residence by the anti-corruption agency. In that case, he questioned the validity of the search warrant relied upon by the ICPC.
El-Rufai, who served as Kaduna governor from 2015 to 2023 and previously headed the Federal Capital Territory as minister, remains in detention while facing multiple legal proceedings in Abuja and Kaduna.
One of the cases concerns allegations surrounding the unlawful interception of the telephone communications of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.