The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has yet to reply to a bail application filed on behalf of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, disclosed on Monday.
El-Rufai had honoured an invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on February 16, after which he was detained.
He was later moved on February 18 to the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Adekeye said the former governor’s legal team had not been shown any remand order authorising his continued detention, despite the constitutional 48-hour limit for holding a suspect without charge having elapsed.
In a post on X, the aide stated that El-Rufai would be arraigned on February 25 over charges instituted by the Department of State Services.
He added that the Federal Capital Territory High Court is also scheduled to hear a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by El-Rufai against the Federal Government, the ICPC, the EFCC and the DSS on the same day.
The suit is seeking an order admitting him to bail.
“Today makes it eight days since Malam Nasir El-Rufai was taken into custody. He voluntarily reported at the EFCC on the morning of Monday, February 16, 2026, in response to an invitation.
“He has remained in detention since then — initially at the EFCC until the night of Wednesday, February 18, when he was transferred to the ICPC,” Adekeye wrote.
He maintained that the bail request submitted to the ICPC had not received any response, while no remand warrant had been presented to his lawyers.
Adekeye further stated that events leading to the detention began upon El-Rufai’s return to the country on February 12, when his passport was reportedly seized at the airport during what his lawyers described as an aborted arrest attempt.
According to him, the ICPC subsequently invited El-Rufai to appear on February 13, but he proposed February 18 as a suitable date.
He alleged that between February 16 and 18, the former governor remained in EFCC custody despite being granted administrative bail under certain conditions, including providing a serving federal permanent secretary as surety.
El-Rufai’s lawyer, Ubong Akpan, was quoted as describing the continued detention and restricted access to his client as unlawful.
On February 19, operatives of the ICPC reportedly conducted a search at El-Rufai’s residence on Aso Drive in Abuja.
Akpan faulted the action, alleging that it was carried out under a defective warrant and in breach of due process.
Adekeye added that a suit was later filed at the Federal High Court challenging the validity of the search warrant and seeking to bar the use of any items recovered during the operation as evidence in any proceedings.
He also disclosed that further interrogation by the ICPC continued on February 20.
