Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has instituted a fresh N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing the agency of restricting access to his wife and son while in detention.
The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13, 2026, is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026. El-Rufai, through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, listed the ICPC Chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation as the second and third defendants.
The former governor alleged that his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, were repeatedly prevented from visiting him at the ICPC facility in Abuja, thereby restricting their ability to provide him with food, medication, clothing and other personal necessities.
He claimed that ICPC officials physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son during an incident on July 7, describing the alleged action as an unlawful interference with his family relationships.
El-Rufai is asking the court to declare that his constitutional rights remain enforceable despite his detention and that the continued denial of access to his family without lawful authority or a court order is unconstitutional and illegal.
He is also seeking an order compelling the respondents to grant him reasonable and unhindered access to his family members and legal counsel throughout his detention, in line with an earlier court directive.
According to the former governor, the alleged restrictions violated his rights to dignity and privacy under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as relevant provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He further alleged that the denial of family access subjected him to humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, stated that the former governor was being held at the ICPC office in Abuja.
Shaba said information contained in the affidavit was provided by Asabe, who had previously been responsible for supplying her husband with food, medication, clothing and other necessities while he was in custody.
He also referred to an April 1 order by Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna directing the ICPC to allow defendants access to their lawyers and personal physicians whenever necessary.
The affidavit argued that the order reinforced the principle that detainees should not be held incommunicado and that detention conditions remain subject to judicial oversight.
Shaba further maintained that El-Rufai retained his fundamental rights under the Constitution and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, including the right to humane treatment and reasonable access to family members.
He said Asabe had regularly visited her husband and delivered meals and other items to him without obstruction before July 7.
The latest case is one of several legal actions filed by El-Rufai against the anti-corruption agency. In February 2026, he instituted a separate N1 billion fundamental rights suit challenging an alleged search of his Abuja residence.
That case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, questioned the validity of a search warrant issued by a Chief Magistrate of the FCT Magistrates’ Court. El-Rufai alleged that the search violated his constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy.
The earlier suit was subsequently amended, resulting in the removal of the magistrate who issued the warrant as a defendant.