Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a fresh ₦10 billion fundamental rights suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing the agency of restricting access to him by his wife and son while in custody.
The suit, filed by his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, also names the ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as the second and third defendants.
The originating motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026 and filed on August 13, was sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
El-Rufai is asking the Federal High Court to affirm that his fundamental rights under Part IV of the 1999 Constitution remain enforceable despite his detention by the ICPC.
He is particularly seeking a declaration that the alleged repeated denial of access to his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, including their inability to provide him with food, medication and other necessities without lawful justification or a court order, amounts to a violation of his constitutional rights.
The former governor argued that the alleged treatment violated rights guaranteed under Sections 34 and 37 of the Constitution as well as Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He also wants the court to declare that the alleged physical restraint, intimidation and treatment of Asabe and Abba by ICPC officers on July 7, alongside the alleged interference with their spousal and filial relationship, constituted violations of his rights to dignity and private and family life.
El-Rufai is further asking for an order compelling the respondents to grant him reasonable access to his family members and lawyers throughout his detention, in line with an earlier order of the Federal High Court.
According to him, despite the existing order permitting visits by his family and lawyers, the ICPC allegedly prevented his wife and son from accessing him without a valid reason.
He said the alleged actions subjected him to “humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress”, amounting to unjustifiable interference with his dignity and family life.
El-Rufai maintained that he was entitled to the protection and enforcement of his fundamental rights under Section 46 of the 1999 Constitution and the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, said the former governor was being detained at the ICPC office in Abuja.
Shaba said the information contained in the affidavit was supplied to him by Asabe, whom he identified as El-Rufai’s lawful wife, on July 12.
He stated that Asabe had been personally responsible for providing her husband with food, clothing, medication and other necessities during his detention.
Shaba further disclosed that El-Rufai is the first defendant in FHC/KD/73C/2025, a case before the Federal High Court in Kaduna in which the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the complainant.
He recalled that on April 1, the Kaduna division of the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice R. M. Aikawa, ordered the ICPC to allow the defendants access to their counsel and personal physicians whenever necessary.
According to Shaba, the order reinforced the principle that detainees should not be held incommunicado and that conditions of detention remain subject to judicial oversight.
He said Asabe had regularly visited El-Rufai and delivered meals and other items to him before July 7 without obstruction, adding that the visits were conducted in accordance with ICPC procedures and what he described as the former governor’s constitutional and statutory rights.
El-Rufai is therefore asking the court to intervene over the alleged restriction of family access and enforce his fundamental rights for as long as he remains in ICPC custody.
