The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has taken former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, into custody shortly after his release by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
El-Rufai was released on Wednesday after spending two nights at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, where he had presented himself for questioning over alleged financial improprieties during his tenure as governor between 2015 and 2023. However, shortly after his release, operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission took him into custody in connection with ongoing investigations.
Confirming the development, ICPC spokesperson J. Okor Odey said in a brief statement that the former governor was in the commission’s custody as of the close of work on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. He did not disclose details of the investigations.
Earlier reports had indicated that the Department of State Services was on standby over plans to arraign El-Rufai following criminal charges filed against him by the Federal Government.
On Monday, the Federal Government filed a three-count charge against El-Rufai before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. The charges, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, were brought under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.
The government alleged that during a February 13, 2026 appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme, El-Rufai admitted that an associate unlawfully intercepted Ribadu’s phone communications and that he listened to the recordings. In one of the counts, the prosecution accused him of associating with an individual who intercepted the communications without reporting the matter to relevant authorities. Another count alleged that he and others used technical equipment in Abuja in 2026 to unlawfully intercept the NSA’s communications.
During the television interview, El-Rufai had claimed that he became aware of an alleged plan to arrest him through information obtained from the intercepted conversation. “The government thinks that they are the only ones who listen to calls. But we also have our ways,” he said.
Separately, security agencies have reopened investigations into the 2019 disappearance of Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, who was declared missing on August 1, 2019, after gunmen reportedly took him from his Kaduna residence. His whereabouts remain unknown.
A security source disclosed that investigators are also examining social media posts made by El-Rufai’s sons following Dadiyata’s disappearance, while the former governor’s passport was reportedly seized at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja to prevent him from travelling abroad.
In 2024, the Kaduna State House of Assembly indicted El-Rufai over the alleged diversion of N423 billion in public funds and recommended that anti-graft agencies investigate him for alleged money laundering and other offences.
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