A legal dispute has erupted between the legal team of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El‑Rufai, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) following the ex-governor’s detention over alleged financial crimes.
In a strongly worded protest letter addressed to the ICPC chairman, dated March 6, 2026, El-Rufai’s counsel, led by Abuja-based lawyer Ubong Esop Akpan, accused the anti-corruption agency of “abuse of court process,” unlawful detention, and misrepresentation before the courts.
According to the letter, which was copied to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, FCT High Court and the Attorney General of the Federation, the ICPC obtained a remand order from a magistrate court in Bwari, Abuja, on February 19, 2026, allowing the commission to detain the former governor for 14 days while investigating alleged offences, including money laundering.
El-Rufai’s lawyers argued that the order was improperly obtained because money laundering offences fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, not a magistrates’ court. They alleged that the commission deliberately approached the lower court to obtain a detention order that it could not have secured from a court of competent jurisdiction.
The legal team also claimed the order was never served on either El-Rufai or his lawyers, describing the alleged failure as a violation of his constitutional right to a fair hearing.
The former governor has now filed a fundamental rights enforcement action before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, seeking to halt any further attempts to extend the detention order.
The suit lists the ICPC, the Chief Magistrate of the Bwari Magistrate Court, and the Attorney‑General of the Federation of Nigeria as respondents.
READ ALSO: Police Apprehend Four Suspected Kidnappers In Ondo, Recover Ransom
In the suit, El-Rufai’s lawyers are asking the court to declare his detention unlawful and to restrain authorities from further detaining him without proper charges before a competent court.
In the letter to the ICPC, the legal team alleged that the commission’s actions amounted to forum shopping, fraudulent misrepresentation to the court, and unlawful detention.
The lawyers also accused ICPC officers of making sworn statements that were allegedly breached when the agency failed to file charges against their client after the expiration of the initial 14-day remand period.
They warned that complaints could be filed before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee against lawyers involved in the case, while also threatening to petition law enforcement authorities to investigate alleged perjury connected to affidavits filed in court.
Leave a Reply