“Unlawful, brazen self-help,” El-Rufai’s family tackles ICPC over his continued detention

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

The family of former Kaduna governor, Nasir-El-Rufai, has asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to immediately release him from detention arguing that
there is currently no valid legal instrument authorizing his detention.

The family said this in a statement by the son of the governor, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai on Friday while noting that their patriarch has been held in the detention of the EFCC for more than 14 days.

The family noted that El-Rufai was first taken into custody on February 18, 2026 while ICPC later obtain what they described as defective order to detain him on from a magistrate court on February, 19.

The family said the order was defective from the outset as the law provided only a 14-day window for his detention.

But they noted that ICPC has not charged El-Rufai to court even at the expiration of the 14-day period or secured a fresh or extended lawful order to continue detaining him. The family therefore asked ICPC to immediately release the for Kaduna governor.

“Despite the expiration of any legal cover for his detention, the ICPC persists in holding him. This is no longer a matter of lawful procedure; it is unlawful, brazen self-help. The ICPC has failed in its fundamental obligation to either charge him before a court of competent jurisdiction or release him.

“The path forward is clear and logical: release him immediately. Their refusal to do so confirms what we have long feared—that the ICPC is being wielded as a tool for political persecution rather than operating as an impartial institution of justice.

“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Nasir El-Rufai”

El-Rufai has been in ICPC custody since Feb. 18, following his release by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), where he spent two nights.

The ICPC and the EFCC are probing him over alleged financial impropriety during his tenure as governor of Kaduna State between 2015 and 2023.

In 2024, the Kaduna State House of Assembly indicted the former governor over alleged diversion of N432 billion in public funds and money laundering and recommended his prosecution.