Nigeria: DSS moves El-Rufai to ICPC after family protests breach of Court Order

Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai was moved to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on Monday evening after his family accused the Department of State Services, DSS, of holding him in violation of court orders.

The incident followed a court session at the Federal High Court in Abuja before Justice Joyce AbdulMalik. The court granted el-Rufai bail and adjourned the matter until 1pm. During the break, he was briefly taken to a DSS facility.

El-Rufai’s wife, Hasiat, told journalists outside the DSS headquarters that the move breached two subsisting orders from a Kaduna court directing 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? He said, I am not a furniture to be moved,” she recounted.

After the afternoon session, during which the prosecution sought an adjournment and the judge set the next hearing for the following day, el-Rufai was again taken to the DSS instead of being returned to ICPC custody. Hasiat said he refused to leave the vehicle and demanded to be forced in if authorities insisted.

The family also raised concerns over his medical access. Hasiat said el-Rufai had been in custody for 91 days and was denied access to his personal physicians, despite a Kaduna High Court order granting him unfettered access to lawyers and doctors. She said an ICPC doctor had recommended tests but the agreed follow-up was blocked.

El-Rufai’s son, Rep. Bello el-Rufai, said the bail conditions were designed to be impossible to meet, citing requirements for attestation from the Kaduna State Council of Chiefs and a Level 17 civil servant with property in Asokoro or Maitama. He called the case politically motivated.

Dr. Uche Dialla of the el-Rufai Support Group Association described the shuttle between agencies as psychological torture under UN conventions. Senator Lawal Adamu of Kaduna Central also called for el-Rufai’s immediate release, noting he returned voluntarily from Cairo to answer the ICPC’s invitation.

Security sources told Vanguard that following a meeting among lawyers, el-Rufai was transferred to ICPC custody at about 5pm on Monday.

The family is demanding his return to ICPC in line with court orders, restoration of medical access, and an end to what they call psychological harassment.