Court to Rule on ICPC Request to Extend El-Rufai’s Detention

An Abuja Magistrate’s Court is expected to decide today on an application by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) seeking an additional 14 days to keep former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, in custody.

The presiding magistrate, Okechukwu Akweke, had last week adjourned the matter to consider the anti-graft agency’s request for an extension of the remand order.

El-Rufai has been in detention since February 18, 2026, over allegations of money laundering and the unlawful interception of communications belonging to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Earlier, on February 19, the ICPC secured a 14-day remand order from a Magistrate Court in Bwari, Abuja, allowing the commission to detain the former governor while investigations continued. The order reportedly expired on March 5.

Following the expiration of the remand order, el-Rufai’s lawyers, family members and supporters criticised his continued detention, arguing that it had become unlawful. They maintained that once the order lapsed, the commission should have either released him or formally charged him before a competent court.

They also argued that holding the former governor without a valid court order violates his constitutional rights.

In response, el-Rufai filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, challenging what he described as his prolonged and unlawful detention.

The suit lists the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Services (DSS), the ICPC, and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation as defendants.

The former governor is asking the court to declare his continued detention illegal and order his immediate release.

However, the ICPC has dismissed claims that it violated el-Rufai’s fundamental rights, insisting that it acted based on a valid remand order obtained from the court.

Meanwhile, former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has criticised el-Rufai’s human rights record during his tenure as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Fani-Kayode alleged that el-Rufai attempted to shut down Africa Independent Television (AIT) and seize the land on which the station was built. He also claimed that surrounding land legally acquired by the station was confiscated and some of its buildings demolished without due process and in defiance of court orders.

In a Facebook post, the former minister added that there were other alleged cases of human rights violations linked to el-Rufai during his time in office.