A former Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, CGoF, has called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to either charge former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to court or release him.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/TheNigerialawyer-WhatsApp-Channel1.jpg")
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Odinkalu stated that while he disagreed with El-Rufai’s conduct as governor, he also disagrees with the manner in which he is being treated in detention.
“As Governor, El-Rufai was lawless. I disagreed with him then. Today, he is being treated as beneath the law. I disagree with that too,” Odinkalu wrote.
“I call El-Rufai a #VileLittleMan. But the rights in the constitution of Nigeria are not meant to protect merely people whom we like or agree with. No one in Nigeria should be above the law or beneath it.”
The human rights advocate emphasised that the constitution is clear on the standards of pre-trial detention and prohibits administrative detention.
“The constitution is clear on the standards of pre-trial detention. And it prohibits administrative detention,” he stated.
“If ICPC, DSS or whoever else is holding him have crimes against him which are tenable in court, they should charge him to court.”
Odinkalu condemned the prolonged detention of El-Rufai as unconstitutional.
“Whatever happens, there is no legal basis or justification for keeping him or anyone in detention interminably. That is keeping a citizen beneath the law. It is unlawful, unjustifiable and unconstitutional,” he said.
Odinkalu’s comments come against the backdrop of an editorial by TheNigeriaLawyer titled “Unfit For The Rank Of ‘Silk’? — ICPC And CAC Heads Fail To Live Up To Expectations Concomitant With The Award.”
The editorial criticised the ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, for the agency’s handling of El-Rufai’s detention, noting that the ICPC failed to conduct a thorough preliminary investigation before inviting the former governor for questioning.
The publication stated that the agency resorted to arrest and prolonged detention without charges, exceeding the constitutional limits on pre-arraignment detention under Section 35(4)–(5) of the 1999 Constitution and sections 293–299 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
TheNigeriaLawyer described the ICPC’s conduct as “forum shopping,” noting that on February 19, 2026, the agency obtained a 14-day remand warrant from a Bwari Magistrate Court to justify holding El-Rufai for over two weeks without presenting him before a court of competent jurisdiction for trial.
The editorial noted: “If a former governor of a state can be treated in this manner, what recourse exists for the ordinary Nigerian citizen who lacks the resources and the public platform to challenge such overreach?”
It also highlighted the “silence of the gatekeepers,” including the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Nigerian Bar Association, on the matter.
“A democracy that tolerates the abuse of one citizen’s rights because of who that citizen is will soon find that no one’s rights are safe. Nigeria’s hope for fair justice dims with every such act of institutional indifference,” the editorial stated.
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