Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has filed a fresh N10bn fundamental rights suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over the alleged denial of access to his wife and son while in custody.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 13. El-Rufai listed the ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation as the second and third defendants.

Through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, the former governor alleged that ICPC officials prevented his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, from visiting him and supplying food, medication and other necessities.

El-Rufai alleged that the denial of family access, particularly after July 7, violated his fundamental rights to dignity and privacy under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution and relevant provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

He also alleged that ICPC officers physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son on July 7, describing the incident as an unlawful interference with his family relationships.

The former governor is asking the court to declare the continued denial of access unconstitutional and order the ICPC to grant him reasonable and unhindered access to his family and legal representatives throughout his detention.

In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, El-Rufai’s Principal Secretary, Mohammed Shaba, said Asabe had regularly provided the former governor with food, clothing, medication and other personal necessities while he was in custody.

Shaba also referred to an April 1 order by Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna directing the ICPC to allow defendants access to their lawyers and personal physicians when required. He argued that the order affirmed that detainees should not be held incommunicado.

The latest suit is part of a series of legal actions filed by El-Rufai against the ICPC since the commission began investigating him. In February, he filed a separate N1bn fundamental rights suit challenging the alleged unlawful search of his Abuja residence.

The earlier suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, alleged violations of his rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy. The case was later amended, with El-Rufai removing the magistrate who issued the search warrant as a defendant.