Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The family of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El‑Rufai, alongside Senator Lawal Adamu Usman (Kaduna Central) and other political allies, staged a protest at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja on Monday, May 18, 2026, demanding his immediate return to the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The demonstration erupted after the former governor, who had just been granted a N100 million bail by a Federal High Court, was taken into DSS custody instead of being remanded with the ICPC as required by subsisting Kaduna court orders.
El‑Rufai’s second wife, Asia El‑Rufai, who spoke to journalists outside the DSS facility, said the family had been living under constant fear and surveillance. “We now live in constant fear. Every day we get a threat — DSS is coming to raid your house, ICPC is coming to raid your house, police are coming to raid your house. You are being followed. Our phones are tapped,” she said. She narrated that earlier in the day, El‑Rufai had appeared before Justice Joyce AbdulMalik of the Federal High Court, who granted him bail and stood the matter down until 1:00 p.m. During the court break, she said, the former governor was briefly taken to the DSS facility, a move he resisted, insisting that two subsisting court orders from a Kaduna court directed that he be remanded with the ICPC. “He said to them, ‘I am not going to step down because there are two court orders that the Kaduna court gave that I should be remanded in ICPC. Why are you bringing me here?’” she said. “He said, ‘I am not furniture to be moved.’”
According to Mrs. El‑Rufai, when the judge directed the DSS and ICPC to decide which agency would keep the former governor, representatives of both agencies agreed that he should be returned to ICPC custody. However, after the afternoon court session, she alleged, he was again transported to the DSS headquarters instead of being returned to the ICPC. As of the time she spoke, she said El‑Rufai had refused to leave the vehicle on the DSS premises. “He told them that if you want to take me inside DSS custody, you will have to physically force me into doing this, because you had an agreement,” she said.
Mrs. El‑Rufai also disclosed that the former governor had been in detention for 91 days and had been denied access to his personal physicians, despite a court order by Justice Aikawa of the Kaduna State High Court granting him unrestricted access to lawyers and doctors. She said the ICPC’s in‑house doctor had recommended medical tests and agreed that his personal doctors would later discuss the results with him, but that arrangement was later disregarded. “When you see a doctor and you run tests, you are expected to see the doctor back so that he explains what the problem is. He was denied access to the doctor because in their own explanation, they said Malam was not aware that the doctor was coming. I asked Malam — Malam said nobody told him,” she said.
Senator Lawal Adamu Usman, who joined the protest, called for El‑Rufai’s immediate release, noting that the former governor had voluntarily returned to Nigeria from Cairo after being invited by the ICPC. “He returned on his own to honour the invitation. We believe he deserves bail on self‑recognition,” the senator said. He described the situation as “psychological harassment because of politics.” El‑Rufai’s son, Bello El‑Rufai, a member of the House of Representatives, also questioned the bail conditions imposed on his father, arguing that they were deliberately impossible to meet. “Who keeps a person for 91 days? Why were the terms of the bail so stringent that it is practically impossible for anybody to meet?” he asked. He pointed to requirements for a Grade Level 17 civil servant with a house in Asokoro or Maitama as a surety, arguing that such conditions effectively deny bail.
The family’s demands were clear: El‑Rufai’s immediate return to ICPC custody in line with existing court orders, restoration of access to his personal physicians, and an end to what they described as psychological torment. As of the time of this report, the ICPC had issued a statement dismissing claims that El‑Rufai was denied medical care or food, insisting that he was in good health and had been allowed to see doctors of his choice within the agency’s approved access hours. The DSS had not yet officially responded to the family’s allegations.
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