ICPC explains why ADC leaders were denied access to El-Rufai

• ICPC insists that the commission was following the court’s judgment by denying ADC leaders access to El Rufai.

• ICPC denied that the ADC leaders were harassed at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja

• Opposition leaders continue to call for the release of the former Kaduna governor.

John Odey, ICPC spokesperson, made this known during a press conference where he disclosed that a subsisting court directive restricted access to the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, exclusively to his immediate family members, legal counsel, and medical personnel, leaving the commission with no legal basis to admit a party delegation.

​According to the ICPC spokesman, ADC had formally applied for permission to send a delegation to visit El-Rufai at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja, listing senior party figures, including former governor of Osun State and Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola and ex-Attorney General Abubakar Malami, among those who intend to call on the former governor.

However, the commission, in response, disclosed that the request was rejected, citing the court’s restrictions as its reason.

Odey further stressed that the letter had been delivered to and acknowledged by the party before the delegation arrived, adding that the party’s claim that its leaders were harassed or intimidated at the commission’s Abuja premises was untrue.

Odey also described the security presence at the gate as routine and unrelated to the visit, denying that multiple police vehicles were deployed against the delegation, and saying that armed officers stationed at the facility were part of standard security arrangements.

“The court was specific that access is limited to immediate family members, legal counsel, and doctors. We are bound by that order,” Odey said, adding that the commission remained apolitical and was only adhering to the law.

The ADC had accused ICPC of blocking its leaders and characterised the action as intimidation of opposition figures.

El-Rufai is standing trial on nine amended charges relating to alleged violations of anti-corruption, procurement, and fraud laws during his tenure in Kaduna State. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Earlier in April 2026, El Rufai was granted bail by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, but he was immediately arrested by officers of the Department of State over allegations of tapping the phone of the National Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

While addressing the press following El-Rufai's arrest, his son, Honourable Bello El-Rufai, insisted that their family remains undaunted over his father's legal ordeal and warned that nothing must happen to the former governor while he's in custody.