Detained former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has instituted a fresh N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, accuses the anti-corruption agency of violating his fundamental rights by allegedly preventing his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, from visiting him.
El-Rufai is asking the court to rule that the repeated denial of access to his family, particularly where such visits were intended to provide him with food, medication and other necessities, was unlawful and violated his rights under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, the former governor alleged that ICPC officials physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son on July 7, describing the incident as an unjustified interference with his family relationships.
He wants the court to declare the continued restriction on family visits, in the absence of lawful authority, unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
The ICPC and its Chairman are listed as the first and second respondents, while the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is the third respondent.
Among the reliefs sought, El-Rufai is asking the court to order the respondents to provide him with unhindered and reasonable access to his family members and legal representatives throughout his detention, in line with an earlier directive of the Federal High Court.
He argued that preventing his wife and son from seeing him and supplying food, medication and other essential items had exposed him to humiliation, emotional trauma, anxiety and psychological distress.
El-Rufai maintained that the actions of the respondents were arbitrary and unlawful and violated provisions of the Constitution and the African Charter relating to dignity, privacy and family life.
The former governor had previously filed a separate N1 billion fundamental rights suit against the ICPC over an alleged unlawful search of his Abuja residence.
That case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, challenged the validity of a search warrant issued by an Abuja Chief Magistrate, which the ICPC relied on to search his home.
El-Rufai, who served as Kaduna State Governor from 2015 to 2023, and previously served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is currently facing several legal cases in Abuja and Kaduna.
One of the allegations against him involves claims that he was complicit in the unlawful interception of telephone communications belonging to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
