The family of former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has called for his immediate release from the custody of the ICPC, describing his continued detention as unlawful.
In a statement issued today Friday, March 6, 2026, signed by his eldest son, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, the family said the former governor remains in ICPC custody despite the expiration of the legal basis for his detention.
According to the statement, El-Rufai was first taken into custody by the anti-corruption agency on February 18, 2026. The ICPC subsequently obtained a remand order from a magistrate court on February 19, which the family argued was defective and legally allowed only a 14-day period of detention.
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The family said that the 14-day period had now elapsed, noting that the commission had neither charged the former governor before a competent court nor secured a fresh order authorizing his continued detention.
They further alleged that the ICPC’s decision to keep him in custody after the expiration of the remand order amounts to unlawful detention and a violation of due process.
“The ICPC has failed in its fundamental obligation to either charge him before a court of competent jurisdiction or release him,” the statement said.
The family therefore demanded the “immediate and unconditional release” of the former governor, alleging that the anti-corruption agency was being used for political persecution rather than acting as an impartial institution of justice.⇑
