{"id":21300,"date":"2026-02-20T12:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psmnigeria.org\/?p=21300"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:41:19","slug":"lawyers-protest-icpc-raid-as-el-rufai-remains-in-custody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psmnigeria.org\/?p=21300","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers Protest ICPC Raid as El-Rufai Remains in Custody"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former <strong>Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai<\/strong>, spent a second night in the custody of the <strong>Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)<\/strong> on Thursday, amid protests by his legal team over the search of his residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">El-Rufai was initially detained on Monday by the <strong>Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)<\/strong> and released late Wednesday, only to be immediately taken into ICPC custody, where he remains. Prior to his detention, El-Rufai, through his lawyers, had indicated his willingness to honour an ICPC invitation scheduled for Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The developments follow an earlier incident at the airport where the <strong>Department of State Services (DSS)<\/strong> reportedly seized his passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An ICPC official confirmed on Thursday night that El-Rufai was still with the commission but declined to provide details of the ongoing investigation. \u201cHe is still very much with us. I can\u2019t say the offence he is being investigated for,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unverified reports suggest the investigation may be linked to the <strong>failed N11.1 billion Joint Venture Kaduna Light Rail project<\/strong>, but attempts to independently confirm this were unsuccessful. The ICPC\u2019s spokesman, John Odey, did not respond to repeated calls and messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, El-Rufai\u2019s media aide, <strong>Muyiwa Adekeye<\/strong>, reported on X that ICPC operatives had conducted a search of the former governor\u2019s residence on <strong>Aso Drive, Abuja<\/strong>. He added that El-Rufai\u2019s lawyer, <strong>Ubong Akpan<\/strong>, condemned the action as unlawful and a violation of due process and fundamental rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Aso Drive residence of Malam Nasir @elrufai was today searched by the ICPC. Ubong Akpan, Malam El-Rufai\u2019s lawyer, condemned the action as unlawful and a clear violation of legal procedures and fundamental rights,\u201d Adekeye wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, spent a second night in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Thursday, amid protests by his&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pages"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lawyers Protest ICPC Raid as 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