Nasir El-Rufai remains in custody as his legal team presses the authorities for clarity over his detention, eight days after he voluntarily presented himself to investigators.
His media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, said on Monday that no response had been received from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to an application for bail, despite the lapse of the constitutionally recognised 48-hour window for holding a suspect without charge.
El-Rufai reported at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on the morning of 16 February following an invitation from the agency. He remained in EFCC custody until the night of 18 February, when he was transferred to the ICPC.
According to Adekeye, his lawyers have yet to be shown any remand order authorising the continued detention.
“Today marks eight days since Malam Nasir El-Rufai was detained,” Adekeye wrote in a post on X. “As at today, his lawyers have not received any response from the ICPC to their application for bail; and they have not been shown any remand order as the 48-hour window for holding a person without charge has expired.”
The former governor is scheduled to be arraigned on 25 February on charges filed by the Department of State Services, in a case that has drawn significant public attention.
On the same day, the Federal Capital Territory High Court is expected to hear his fundamental rights suit against the federal government, the ICPC, the EFCC and the DSS. The suit seeks an order compelling the authorities to admit him to bail.
The detention follows a series of events that began shortly after El-Rufai’s return to Nigeria on 12 February. According to a timeline provided by his aides, his passport was seized at the airport during what his lawyers described as a failed arrest attempt. Hours later, the ICPC issued a letter requesting that he report on 13 February.
El-Rufai, his camp said, proposed to honour the invitation on 18 February. Instead, he presented himself earlier to the EFCC, setting in motion a chain of custody that now places the former governor at the centre of a high-stakes legal confrontation between one of Nigeria’s most combative political figures and the country’s anti-corruption establishment.
