Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has filed a fresh suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, demanding N10 billion in damages over the alleged denial of access to his wife and son while in detention.
The case, filed on August 13, 2026, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026.
El-Rufai, through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, accused the ICPC of repeatedly preventing his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, from visiting him.
The ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation were also listed as defendants in the suit.
The former governor is seeking nine reliefs, including declarations that his fundamental rights remain enforceable despite his detention.
He contended that the alleged refusal to allow his family members access to him, especially when they sought to bring him food, medication and other necessities, amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights.
El-Rufai specifically relied on Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He also alleged that officers of the commission physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son on July 7.
According to him, the alleged conduct constituted an unlawful interference with his family and spousal relationships.
He is asking the court to declare the continued denial of family access without lawful authority “unconstitutional, illegal, null and void”.
He is also seeking an order compelling the respondents to grant him reasonable and unhindered access to his family and legal representatives for the duration of his detention.
El-Rufai claimed that the restrictions had prevented his wife and son from supplying him with food, medication and other personal necessities.
He alleged that the situation had caused him humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, Mohammed Shaba, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, said the former governor was being detained at the ICPC office in Abuja.
Shaba said Asabe had been responsible for providing her husband with food, clothing, medication and other items needed for his health and comfort while in custody.
He recalled that Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna had, on April 1, directed the ICPC to allow the defendants access to their lawyers and personal physicians whenever necessary.
Shaba argued that the order demonstrated that detainees could not lawfully be held incommunicado and that the conditions of their detention remained subject to judicial oversight.
He further stated that El-Rufai continued to enjoy 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.
The affidavit said Asabe had regularly visited her husband and supplied him with meals and other items before the alleged obstruction on July 7.
The latest suit represents another legal challenge by El-Rufai against the ICPC since the commission began investigating him.
In February, the former governor filed a separate N1 billion fundamental rights action over an alleged search of his Abuja residence.
The suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, challenged a search warrant issued by a Chief Magistrate of the FCT Magistrates’ Court, which El-Rufai alleged was used to search his residence unlawfully.
He sought declarations that the search violated his rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Constitution.
The case was later amended, with El-Rufai removing the magistrate who issued the warrant from the list of defendants.
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