Aichatou El-Rufai, wife of Nasir El-Rufai, has issued a pre-action notice to the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), demanding N2 billion in damages over alleged defamatory statements.
Mohammed Bello, son of the former governor, had earlier alleged that ICPC operatives denied his father access to medical and family care at the commission’s detention facility on Friday.
Bello claimed the action by the anti-graft agency violated a court order granting El-Rufai “unrestricted access to his doctors”.
He also said El-Rufai was prevented from seeing Aichatou, his second wife, who brought him his evening meal.
ICPC: We Follow Access Control Policy
Responding to the allegations on Monday, the ICPC described claims of inhumane treatment and denial of access to el-Rufai as “false and misleading”.
J. Okor Odey, the ICPC spokesperson, said in a statement that the commission’s access control policy permits visits between 9:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., adding that the protocol applies to all detainees and visitors.
Odey said families of suspects in ICPC custody are routinely informed of the visitation guidelines and had complied with them before the incident.
He added that one of El-Rufai’s wives and a housemaid were granted access on at least three occasions between 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. to deliver food to the former governor.
“Commission notes the wide circulation of a video interview since 10:00 p.m. on Friday, 15 May 2026. In that interview, conducted in the Hausa language and broadcast across several media platforms, a woman who identified herself as the wife of a defendant currently remanded in ICPC custody alleged that Commission operatives denied her entry into the premises at 7:00 p.m. to deliver food to her husband,” the statement reads.
“She further alleged that the ICPC was in violation of a court order permitting family access to the defendant, and that her husband was being denied food. The ICPC wishes to state categorically that these claims are false and misleading.”
El-Rufai’s Wife Demands Retraction, Apology
In a letter addressed to the commission, counsel to Aichatou El-Rufai said parts of the statement issued by Odey were defamatory and had caused reputational harm to their client.
The lawyers argued that the commission’s description of the former governor’s wife as “a woman who identified herself as the wife of a defendant” cast doubt on her status as the lawful spouse of the former governor.
They also said the commission’s claim that her earlier assertions were “false and misleading” portrayed her as dishonest and deceptive.
According to the legal team, allegations that she violated visitation procedures at the ICPC headquarters painted her as someone who disregards institutional protocols.
The lawyers further objected to portions of the statement which, they said, suggested that Aichatou el-Rufai contradicted herself on claims that her husband was denied food while in custody.
They also accused the commission of portraying her actions as an attempt to create a media spectacle to circumvent official procedures.
The letter said the ICPC publication had been widely circulated across local and international media platforms, exposing her to ridicule, embarrassment, and reputational damage.
Her lawyers described her as a woman of “unblemished character” and accused the anti-graft agency of using its official platform to unfairly target a private citizen.
The legal team demanded an immediate retraction of the statements and a public apology to their client.
They stressed that the apology should be published in at least three national newspapers and across the commission’s digital and social media platforms.
The notice also seeks N2 billion in general, aggravated, and exemplary damages over the alleged defamatory publication.
The lawyers also demanded a written undertaking from the commission assuring that no similar statements would be made about el-Rufai’s second wife in the future.
The ICPC was given 14 days to comply with the demands, failing which the legal team said it would commence legal proceedings.
