The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the N1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit brought by the detained former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, over the refusal of access to his wife and son while he is in the Commission’s custody.
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In separate counter-affidavits, the Commission said it imposed a temporary access control measure after a visit by the former governor’s physician, which his wife attended, “turned into a political meeting,” while the Attorney-General argued that the order of the Federal High Court in Kaduna under which El-Rufai is held permitted access only to his counsel and his personal physician and “did not include access to Aichatou Asabe or any other person.”
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026 and filed on 13 August by Mr. Ubong Akpan, has been assigned to Hon. Justice Chigozie Onah. The respondents are the Commission, its Chairman, Dr. Musa Aliyu, SAN, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
El-Rufai seeks N1 billion in damages for being prevented from having access to his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and his son, Abba El-Rufai, in July.
He asked the court to declare that the Commission’s denial of access to his family members while he was in custody constituted a violation of his fundamental rights, and to declare that his rights guaranteed under Part IV of the Constitution “remain inviolable and in force notwithstanding his detention by the commission and should be honoured.” The suit contains nine prayers in all.
The former governor has been in the Commission’s custody since February, a period of more than seven months, on the strength of a court order made in corruption proceedings instituted against him in Kaduna. He faces two separate corruption cases, one before the Federal High Court and the other before the Kaduna State High Court. One of the courts refused him bail and ordered his remand in the Commission’s custody pending the conclusion of the trial.
The Commission’s response came in a joint counter-affidavit deposed to by Mr. John Uche, a chief anti-corruption assistant in its Internal Security Support Unit, who described several of the claims in the affidavit supporting the suit as false.
Uche maintained that El-Rufai is in the lawful custody of the Commission by order of the Federal High Court in Kaduna, made in the criminal case marked FHC/KD/73C/2025.
He said that on 7 July, in compliance with the court order permitting access to the former governor’s physician, the Commission facilitated a medical visit to his personal physician, accompanied by its officers and by his wife, Asabe.
“Shortly after the hospital visit by the doctor and Mr El-Rufai’s wife,” the Commission said, it received reports that the medical visit had turned into a political meeting, breaching its security protocol and demonstrating that the existing access control environment was vulnerable.
The Commission said it responded by adopting a temporary access control measure restricting non-essential access to the former governor, “because unrestricted access presented a continuing risk until the vulnerability was understood and adequately mitigated.”
According to the counter-affidavit, on the same 7 July, El-Rufai’s son Abba approached Uche at his desk to request a visit to his father.
Uche said he contacted his superior, Mr. Henry Hwande, who instructed him to establish the purpose of the visit. He said he made the enquiry, was told it was a regular visit, relayed that to his superior, and was instructed that Abba should wait in the Commission’s waiting area.
He said that while Abba was waiting, Asabe met him and, after conversing with him, began raising her voice and demanding that Abba be granted access to his father.
“That my colleague, Miss Titilayo Remi, tried to speak and reason with her to de-escalate the situation but she was uncooperative,” Uche wrote.
He said that several minutes later Abba attempted to proceed into the building, and that he stood in his way to prevent both him and Asabe from gaining access.
“That while being focused on preventing him from gaining access, I fell into a ditch where my leg trapped and I called out for help, at which point the applicant’s son and Aichatou Asabe continued to make their way towards the building’s entrance, as captured by the CCTV footage,” he deposed.
“That my cry for help attracted the security personnel who then swung into action to prevent the unauthorised entry of the applicant’s son, while Aichatou Asabe gained access into the building and headed for the detention area.”
He then made an allegation about the son’s conduct after he was turned back: “That after he was prevented from gaining entry into the building, the applicant’s son lay in the gutter and repeatedly rubbed his leg against the edge of the gutter.”
Uche deposed that the Commission has closed-circuit television cameras “installed at various strategic locations within and around its office premises for security and monitoring purposes, which cameras record activities and events occurring within their respective fields of view.”
He added that the contents of the storage system, including the recordings, “remained accurate and were not altered or tampered with during the material period.”
The Commission said that following what it described as a second security breach on 7 July, it determined that its access arrangements were no longer adequate and warranted urgent review, and that the review uncovered a further breach involving the former governor’s wife.
Asabe, it said, was “smuggled into the ICPC’s premises on Saturday, 4 July at about 7:35 p.m. after official visiting hours with the connivance of some officers of the commission, who are currently facing disciplinary action.”
On that basis, the Commission said, it concluded that her continued access posed a specific security risk. “As such, her visiting access to the applicant was temporarily suspended pending completion of the security review and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures.”
Uche said he was informed by Hwande, the head of the Internal Security Support Unit, on 26 August, that on 8 July “Asia Ahmed El-Rufai, one of the applicant’s wives, wrote requesting audience with the Director of Operations following the incident of 7 July 2026.”
He said that following the letter, the Director of Operations, together with Hwande, met Asia Ahmed El-Rufai and a counsel named as Mr. Aremu at the Director of Operations’ office on 9 July.
“One of the issues discussed at the meeting was the denial of access to Aichatou Asabe, to which the Director of Operations responded that there was an ongoing investigation and Aichatou Asabe was temporarily suspended from accessing the 1st respondent’s premises until same was completed,” the deposition reads.
On a further letter, it states: “The 1st respondent, having earlier responded to the issue of Aichatou Asabe’s temporary denial of access, did not see the need to respond to the letter of 16 July 2026 as nothing new had come up.”
The Commission disputed the breadth of the former governor’s complaint, saying that contrary to his claim, other members of his family, including the son who was refused entry on 7 July, had on several occasions been granted access to visit him, bringing meals, medication and other necessary supplies after the 7 July incident.
Uche attached a copy of the Commission’s visitors log as Exhibit ICPC D, and said dismissing the claims would be in the interest of justice.
The Attorney-General’s counter-affidavit was deposed to on 11 September by Mr. Oni Michael, an administrative officer in the civil litigation and public law department of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Michael stated that the Attorney-General had no responsibility to arrest or detain any person suspected of committing a crime, including El-Rufai, and does not maintain a detention facility.
“That the alleged infringement of the applicant’s right was not done by the 3rd respondent in any way whatsoever as he is not responsible for the maintenance and control of the 1st and 2nd respondents’ detention facility,” he deposed.
He said the Attorney-General was not part of the events of 7 July and at no time denied the former governor’s family members access to him.
On the terms of the order under which El-Rufai is held, Michael stated that the order of Hon. Justice R. M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna “solely directed the ICPC and its chairman to allow the applicant access to his counsel and personal physician.”
“That the attached order did not include access to Aichatou Asabe or any other person,” he deposed.
“That the 1st and 2nd respondents are empowered to put in place protocols within their facilities to prevent breach of security.”
He submitted that the maintenance of serious security protocols at the Commission’s detention facility “is a matter of national security.”
Michael said he was informed by the Commission’s lawyer, Mrs. Mosunmola Yetunde, that the Commission, in compliance with the court order, allowed the former governor access to his personal physician accompanied by its officers and by his wife, and that “the medical meeting turned into a political meeting.”
He said the Commission adopted a temporary access control measure “which resulted in temporarily restricting non-essential access to the applicant due to vulnerability risk,” and that “the restriction put in place was to ensure serious security protocol, necessary for the maintenance and control of the 1st respondent’s detention facility.”
He said it became necessary, following the events of 7 July, to review the closed-circuit television footage of the facility, and that the review disclosed the earlier breach involving Asabe, “in connivance with an ex-officer of the commission, wherein Asabe was smuggled into the commission’s facilities after official visiting hours.”
“That the act of Aichatou Asabe and the ex-officer of the 1st respondent breached the 1st respondent’s security access protocol,” he deposed, adding: “That the officer found liable in smuggling Aichatou Asabe into the 1st respondent’s detention facility has been dismissed from the service of the 1st and 2nd respondents.”
Beyond this action, El-Rufai has a separate N1 billion fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against the Commission, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General over the Commission-led search of his residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on 19 February.
On 21 September, Hon. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned that case to 27 October for definite hearing.
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