“Denied Bail For 7 Months Without Committing Offence” — Emir Sanusi Decries El-Rufai’s Continued Detention In ICPC Custody

The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has questioned the continued detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, asking whether the case is a genuine anti-corruption fight or a political battle.

Sanusi spoke in an interview with Channels Television while discussing the effectiveness of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the role of the judiciary in prosecuting corruption cases.

Sanusi said Nigeria has institutions and courts established to identify, prosecute and punish corrupt persons, but expressed concern that political connections influence how some cases are handled.

“You have institutions that are supposed to identify corrupt people and prosecute them. You have courts that are supposed to do it. We have seen in this country people who are facing corruption charges who basically just get those charges dropped because they belong to the right political environment or have the right political support,” Sanusi said.

He said some legal proceedings have raised concerns over whether anti-corruption measures are being applied genuinely or being used for political persecution.

“We have people who have legal processes where people are questioning if in fact, it is a fight against corruption or political persecution,” he stated.

Citing El-Rufai’s case specifically, Sanusi described the former governor as his brother and questioned his prolonged detention.

“An example is my brother Nasir El-Rufai, he has been in detention for seven months, he has been denied bail, not having committed any offence using the courts, now people begin to wonder, is this a fight against corruption or a political battle,” the Emir said.

El-Rufai is currently in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, amid ongoing legal proceedings.

The former governor recently filed a fresh N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the ICPC, its chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation, challenging his detention conditions and alleged denial of access to his family.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026 filed on August 13 at the Federal High Court, Abuja, through his counsel Ubong Akpan, El-Rufai asked the court to declare that his fundamental rights under the 1999 Constitution remain valid despite detention, and that denial of access to his wife, Mrs Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, to provide food and medication breaches Sections 34 and 37 of the Constitution.

Sanusi called on politicians and the judiciary to allow laws and institutions established to administer justice and fight corruption to function as intended.

“The politicians, judiciary except they are going to use the laws for why they are set up, we are not going to get anywhere, so the laws are there,” he added.