The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the N1 billion fundamental rights suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over alleged denial of access to his family while in custody.

El-Rufai, who has been in ICPC custody since February 2026, filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026 on August 13 through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, against the ICPC, its Chairman, Musa Aliyu, SAN, and the AGF.

The former governor is seeking N1 billion in damages and nine reliefs, including a declaration that the denial of access to his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, in July constituted a violation of his fundamental rights under Part IV of the 1999 Constitution.

In separate counter-affidavits filed before Justice Chigozie Onah, the ICPC and the AGF urged the court to dismiss the suit, saying the claims lack merit.

The ICPC, in its joint counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the commission and its chairman, said it imposed a temporary access control measure after a medical visit turned into a political meeting.

The commission said it had allowed El-Rufai access to his personal physician in compliance with a court order, but that the July 7 visit, which his wife attended, “turned into a political meeting,” exposing weaknesses in its security arrangements.

It said the incident prompted the commission to temporarily restrict non-essential access to the facility to mitigate security risks.

An officer of the commission, John Uche, a Chief Anti-Corruption Assistant in its Internal Security Support Unit, also alleged in the affidavit that El-Rufai’s son, Abba, attempted to force his way into the facility after being asked to wait at the reception, adding that he fell into a ditch while trying to prevent him from entering. The ICPC said the incident was captured on CCTV.

The commission further claimed that on July 4, at about 7:35 p.m., El-Rufai’s wife was brought into the facility after official visiting hours with the assistance of some officers, who were later subjected to disciplinary proceedings, with one eventually dismissed.

It said the temporary suspension of Asabe’s visiting access was based solely on security concerns and not an attempt to violate El-Rufai’s rights, noting that other family members continued to visit him with food, medication and other essential items. The commission attached its visitors’ log as evidence.

On its part, the AGF, in a counter-affidavit filed on September 11, argued that it neither arrested nor detained El-Rufai and has no control over the ICPC detention facility.

The AGF said the Federal High Court order in Kaduna, under which El-Rufai is being held, permitted access only to his counsel and personal physician and did not include access to his wife or other persons.

It maintained that the ICPC is empowered to establish security protocols within its facilities to prevent security breaches and described the measures as necessary for national security.

The court is yet to fix a date for hearing of the suit.