The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has obtained a fresh court order to detain former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai for another 14 days, extending what his legal team has described as an already unlawful detention that has now stretched beyond three weeks.
The ICPC secured the extension of the detention order for another 14 days, a development that comes just days after his legal team, family and opposition party the African Democratic Congress had mounted a fierce public campaign demanding his immediate release or arraignment before a competent court.
El-Rufai has been in ICPC custody since February 18, 2026, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission granted him bail following his voluntary appearance on February 16. The ICPC obtained an initial 14-day remand order from a Magistrate Court in Bwari, Abuja on February 19, an order that expired on March 5, 2026.
His legal team had argued that between the expiration of that first order and the new extension, his continued detention was entirely without legal basis. Lead counsel Ubong Akpan described the original remand order as void from the beginning, saying it was issued by a magistrate court lacking jurisdiction over the alleged offences and was never served on El-Rufai or his counsel.
“The continued confinement is patently illegal,” he said.
The allegations against El-Rufai are wide ranging and serious. He is facing inter-agency investigations over multiple charges bordering on alleged money laundering, diversion of public funds, corrupt enrichment and security related issues.
His legal team has also levelled a deeply serious allegation against the anti-graft agency itself. Akpan accused ICPC operatives of attempting to pressure El-Rufai to abandon his political activities, warning that detention would continue if he refused. “This is not law enforcement; it is state-sponsored extortion and abuse of power,” the statement read, adding that associates of the former governor including Joel Adoga had been detained for refusing to fabricate confessions.
El-Rufai’s lawyers have filed suit at the FCT High Court asking the court to declare his detention unlawful and restrain authorities from further detaining him without proper charges before a competent court. They have also warned that complaints could be filed before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee against lawyers involved in the case and threatened to petition law enforcement authorities to investigate alleged perjury connected to affidavits filed in court.
His legal team is demanding his immediate release, withdrawal of the extension application and a public apology.
El-Rufai has maintained throughout his detention that he is being subjected to political persecution over his prominent role in the opposition ADC coalition, the same platform that counts former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and other major figures as members ahead of the 2027 elections.
The ICPC has not issued any public statement in response to the allegations made by El-Rufai’s legal team.
