ICPC detains El-Rufai as DSS presses cybercrime charges
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has confirmed that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, is in its custody in connection with ongoing investigations.
In a statement issued on Wednesday night, ICPC spokesperson J. Okor Odey said the former governor was taken into custody but did not disclose the specific nature of the investigations.
“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) writes to state that Malam Nasiru El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State, is in our custody as at close of work today, Wednesday, the 18th day of February, 2026. Malam Nasiru El-Rufai is in the custody of the Commission in connection with investigations,” the statement read.
El-Rufai’s detention by the ICPC comes amid a series of actions by multiple security agencies over the past week.
On Monday, the former governor honoured an invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged financial improprieties during his tenure between 2015 and 2023. He was reportedly detained by the EFCC and later granted bail around 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
However, shortly after his release, reports emerged that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), also known as the State Security Service (SSS), re-arrested him at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.
Witnesses said DSS operatives laid an ambush at the premises and took him into custody immediately after his release. The DSS arrest is linked to allegations that El-Rufai unlawfully intercepted the telephone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
On Monday, the DSS filed a three-count charge against the former governor at the Federal High Court in Abuja over the alleged phone-tapping incident.
Last Thursday, security operatives had also attempted to arrest El-Rufai at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport upon his arrival from Cairo, Egypt. He later alleged that the ICPC, acting on the instruction of the National Security Adviser, directed the DSS to arrest him.
During an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Saturday, El-Rufai claimed that “someone wiretapped” Ribadu’s phone, enabling him to listen to a directive allegedly ordering his arrest.
Separately, in 2024, the Kaduna State House of Assembly indicted the former governor over the alleged diversion of N423 billion in public funds and recommended that anti-graft agencies investigate him for money laundering and related offences.
It remains unclear whether the DSS has transferred El-Rufai to the ICPC as part of coordinated investigations or whether the agencies are pursuing separate cases.
As of press time, neither the DSS nor the EFCC had issued additional statements clarifying the sequence of custody or the current status of the charges.
