The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has released the former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, after his mother’s passing.
El-Rufai has been in the custody of the ICPC since February 19, 2026.
The ICPC had arraigned him on a 10-count charge bordering on the alleged conversion of public property and money laundering.
He was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Kaduna, which adjourned his application for bail till March 31.
Bashir El-Rufai, the former governor’s son, confirmed that his father had been set free.
He wrote, “My beloved great legend of a father (@elrufai) is being released from his unlawful and illegal detention at the hands of one of the most corrupt agencies in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that is a lame excuse of a pathetic institution.
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“Thank you all for all the support. Our family shall never forget these times. We have overcome, as the El-Rufais.”
The passing of El-Rufai’s mother, Hajiya Umma, was announced on X by her grandson, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, who shared a post on his X handle mourning her death around 4:40 p.m. on Friday.
Hours after her passing in Cairo, Egypt, the anti-graft agency freed the former governor, with details of his release yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.
Sources also disclosed that the remains of the late matriarch of El-Rufai’s family will be flown to Nigeria from Cairo on Saturday.
President Bola Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, and the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, have expressed their condolences and offered prayers to El-Rufai over his mother’s death.
