The family of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has described his continued detention by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as unlawful, stating that the legal basis for holding him expired and no fresh order has been obtained.
In a statement posted on Friday via Facebook by his son, Mohammed El-Rufai, the family said the 14-day remand order obtained by the ICPC from a magistrate’s court on February 19 lapsed without the commission charging the former governor before any competent court.
“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,” the statement read.
El-Rufai has spent 18 days in custody of federal agencies after voluntarily reporting to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 16, before being transferred to ICPC custody on February 18. He was briefly released by the EFCC before being immediately taken into ICPC custody.
The family argued that the remand order was “defective from the outset” and provided only a 14-day window, which has since expired. They said the ICPC failed to file charges against El-Rufai or obtain a fresh detention order, describing the continued detention as “unlawful, brazen self-help.”
The ICPC is investigating El-Rufai over alleged corruption, including the whereabouts of €1.4 million, suspicious payments totaling over N2.1 billion, and transfers to undisclosed accounts amounting to more than N428 million.
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The family also alleged political motives behind the detention, 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.”
El-Rufai’s lawyers, in a pre-action notice dated March 4, accused the ICPC of contempt of court, malicious prosecution, defamation, abuse of office, forgery, and unlawful detention. They also served notice of a N15.6 billion damages claim on the ICPC and its officials over a press statement issued on March 2, describing it as defamatory and misleading.
Meanwhile, the ICPC stated in court filings that items recovered from El-Rufai’s Abuja residence on February 19 included investor account statements, asset declaration forms, land documents, electronic devices, and records of domestic and foreign loans approved by the Kaduna State House of Assembly between 2015 and 2023. The commission maintained that its actions were lawful and in line with its statutory mandate.
A separate arraignment planned by the Department of State Services at the Federal High Court on February 25 did not proceed after the agency failed to produce El-Rufai. Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case to April 23, 2026.