Ubong Esop Akpan, counsel to former Kaduna State governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, says the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is running a political witch-hunt.
Akpan spoke after media outlets quoted unnamed sources claiming the commission had traced multi-billion-naira properties in Egypt to El-Rufai.
In a statement on Monday, the lawyer dismissed the reports as “baseless anonymous leaks” meant to excuse what he calls the illegal detention of his client. He stressed that the stories rely on no verifiable evidence and are part of a coordinated smear to keep public opinion onside while El-Rufai remains in custody.
According to Akpan, operatives—allegedly acting on instructions from the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS)—took El-Rufai from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the night of 18 February 2026. He had turned himself in to the EFCC two days earlier and had been granted administrative bail.
Since then, the former governor has been held without charge, in breach of Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires suspects to be arraigned within a “reasonable time,” Akpan said. He added that the reported 14-day remand order issued by a magistrate court on 19 February expired on 4 March, was never served on El-Rufai or his lawyers, and came from a court that lacks jurisdiction over the matter.
Akpan repeated that El-Rufai has challenged the ICPC to bring any credible evidence before a court. His legal team has already filed criminal complaints against the ICPC chairman and officials involved in the detention.
