By Chimezie Godfrey
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El‑Rufai has formally protested what he described as his unlawful detention by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing the anti-graft agency of abusing the judicial process and violating his fundamental rights.
In a strongly worded letter dated March 6, 2026 and addressed to the Chairman of the Commission, El-Rufai’s counsel, Ubong Esop Akpan, alleged that the ICPC obtained a remand order through misrepresentation and deliberately approached a court that lacked jurisdiction over the alleged offences.
The protest letter accused the anti-corruption agency of “forum shopping, fraudulent misrepresentation and oppressive abuse of power,” insisting that the continued detention of the former governor was illegal.
Akpan said two legal processes had already been filed to challenge the detention.
The first is a Notice of Preliminary Objection before the Chief Magistrate Court in Bwari seeking to nullify what he described as an attempt by the ICPC to extend a “fraudulent remand order.”
The second is a fundamental rights enforcement suit before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory seeking to stop the continued detention of the former governor.
According to the lawyer, the suit seeks to restrain the ICPC from “any further use of the legal process to detain or extend what he called a ‘legally defective remand order.’”
Akpan argued that the Commission’s actions amount to abuse of court process, citing Supreme Court authorities defining abuse as the improper use of judicial processes for purposes contrary to justice.
He maintained that money laundering offences fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, and not a Magistrate Court.
“Despite knowing this position of the law, the ICPC deliberately approached a Magistrate Court in Bwari to obtain a remand order,” the letter stated.
“This is not a mistake. This is calculated forum shopping designed to obtain from an inferior court what could not lawfully be obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction.”
The lawyer further argued that the Commission breached its own undertakings when it obtained the remand order on February 19, 2026.
According to him, the 14-day detention period expired on March 4 without the former governor being charged to court.
“If probable cause existed, the Commission would have filed charges. It has not done so,” the letter said.
The lawyer therefore accused the anti-graft body of attempting to obtain a fresh remand order in order to extend what he described as “an illegal detention.”
Akpan also alleged that the original remand order had never been served on El-Rufai or his legal team, describing the omission as a serious violation of the constitutional right to fair hearing.
He claimed that the ICPC falsely told the court that the defence had already been served with the detention warrant.
“This lie is preposterous,” the letter stated.
The former governor is demanding his immediate and unconditional release.
His legal team is also demanding that the ICPC withdraw the application seeking extension of his detention.
In addition, El-Rufai is claiming N2 billion damages against the Commission and its officials.
The claim includes:
”N500 million as general damages
”N500 million as aggravated damages
”N500 million as punitive damages
”N500 million as litigation costs.”
The lawyer also threatened to petition the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Inspector-General of Police and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee over alleged misconduct by officials involved in the case.
As of press time, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission had not issued an official response to the allegations.