El-Rufai Threatens N15.6bn Lawsuit Against ICPC

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has threatened to file a lawsuit worth N15.6bn against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over what he described as unlawful detention and damaging statements issued by the agency.

The development became public after his legal team sent a pre-action notice to the commission’s chairman on March 4, 2026, with the document received at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja the following day.

Through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, El-Rufai accused the anti-graft agency of several offences, including contempt of court, malicious prosecution, defamation, abuse of office, forgery, unlawful detention and the use of false documents.

The notice also complained about a press statement released by the commission on March 2, 2026, which claimed that the former governor failed to cooperate with investigators.

According to the legal team, the claim that their client refused to cooperate was incorrect. They argued that the former governor simply relied on his constitutional right to remain silent during questioning.

The lawyers pointed to provisions of the 1999 Constitution which allow citizens to remain silent during investigations and protect them from being forced to give evidence against themselves.

The notice also accused officials of the commission of allegedly creating evidence and carrying out actions that the lawyers said damaged the credibility of the agency. The legal team claimed that ICPC officials were involved in the forgery of a remand order and other actions such as fabrication of evidence, perjury, false imprisonment and defamation.

El-Rufai’s lawyers demanded the immediate release of their client and asked the commission to withdraw the statements they described as defamatory.

They also asked the ICPC to publish an apology and retraction in three national newspapers.

In addition, the notice requested that the commission preserve all records and materials linked to the search of the former governor’s residence and his detention.

The legal team warned that failure to meet the demands would lead to court action against the commission, its chairman in both official and personal capacities, and other officers connected to the case.

In the proposed lawsuit, El-Rufai plans to claim N5bn as compensatory damages, N5bn as exemplary damages and another N5bn as aggravated damages.

He is also seeking N500m for injurious falsehood and N100m as the cost of legal action, bringing the total claim to N15.6bn.

The dispute follows claims made by the ICPC in court documents that its operatives recovered electronic devices capable of intercepting phone conversations during a search at the Abuja residence of the former governor.

The commission made the statement while responding to a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by El-Rufai at a Federal Capital Territory High Court.

In the case before the court, the former governor is asking the judiciary to declare that his arrest, detention and the search of his residence were unlawful. He is also requesting N1bn in damages over the actions taken by the anti-graft agency.

The ICPC informed the court that its investigation relates to alleged financial issues during El-Rufai’s time as governor of Kaduna State between 2015 and 2023.

According to the commission, investigators are examining questions concerning €1.4m and about 180 suspicious payments amounting to more than N2.1bn from a state revenue account.

However, members of El-Rufai’s family have rejected the claim that wiretapping equipment was recovered from the residence. His son, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, said the items taken from the house were only old phones, laptops and storage devices.

He also questioned the legality of the search warrant used by the agency and supported the legal action seeking to nullify it in court.