El-Rufai Detention: We didn’t seek fresh extension – ICPC

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday night pushed back against reports that it sought a fresh court order to extend the detention of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, saying the claims are inaccurate and misleading.

At the heart of the controversy is a simple question many people are asking: is the anti-corruption agency quietly extending El-Rufai’s detention? The Commission says no, insisting it only went to court to respond to a legal challenge filed by the former governor, not to keep him in custody any longer.

The clarification was contained in a statement signed by John Okor Odey, Head of Media and Public Communication at the ICPC.

“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) wishes to clarify the current legal status of the remand in detention of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai. This statement is necessary to correct inaccurate reports by some media outlets suggesting that the Commission was in court today, 17 March 2026, seeking a fresh extension of his detention.

“The Commission appeared in Court today for the hearing of Mallam El-Rufai’s application, dated and filed on 6 March 2026, which seeks to overturn the court order renewing his remand issued on 5 March 2026.

“During today’s proceedings, counsel to Mr El-Rufai was served with our response to his application. The lawyer subsequently requested an adjournment to respond to the Commission’s response. Consequently, the Magistrate adjourned the hearing of the application to 31 March 2026 to allow Mr El-Rufai’s team sufficient time to react to our response,” the ICPC said.

The clarification comes at a time when public attention on the case is growing, with many closely watching how long the detention will last and whether due process is being followed.

To address this, the Commission laid out a timeline. It said the court first granted a 14-day remand to allow investigation into allegations of money laundering and abuse of office, and later approved another 14-day extension on 5 March 2026.

“To keep the public informed, the Commission provides the following timeline of the court authorised detention. The initial remand order was granted, allowing the Commission to detain the suspect for 14 days to investigate allegations of money laundering and abuse of office. Upon the expiration of the initial order, the Commission applied for a 14-day extension to complete its investigations, which the court acceded to on 5 March 2026.”

It also noted that an earlier move by El-Rufai’s legal team to overturn the initial remand order did not succeed.

“Counsel to El-Rufai attempted to set aside the remand order issued on 19 February 2026, but the application was dismissed on 9 March 2026.

“Mallam El-Rufai remains in the lawful custody of the ICPC under the remand order dated 5 March 2026. The Commission is strictly following the court-mandated timeline, including the requirement for a progress report.

“Furthermore, the ICPC remains firm in upholding its longstanding policy of avoiding media trials. We believe that legal disputes should be settled in the courtroom, not on newspaper pages and social media platforms.

“We urge the public to avoid spreading unverified information and to rely on official updates from the Commission,” the ICPC said.

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