‘Is This A Fight Against Corruption Or Political Battle?’ — Emir Sanusi Questions Ex-Governor El-Rufai’s Seven-Month Detention

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

Sanusi raised the question while discussing the effectiveness of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the role of the judiciary in prosecuting corruption cases.

In an interview published by ChannelsTv, the  Emir said there were institutions and courts established to identify, prosecute and punish people accused of corruption, but expressed concern that political connections could 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 also said some legal proceedings had created concerns over whether anti-corruption measures were being applied as a genuine effort to tackle corruption or being used for political purposes.

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

Sanusi specifically cited El-Rufai’s case, describing the former governor as his brother and questioning the circumstances surrounding his continued 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,” he said.

The former Kaduna governor is currently in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) amid ongoing legal proceedings.

SaharaReporters previously reported that El-Rufai had returned to court with a fresh N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the ICPC, challenging what he described as the alleged isolation of detainees from their immediate family.

The suit, filed by his counsel, Ubong Akpan, also named the ICPC chairman and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as second and third defendants.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the originating motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026 and filed on August 13, seeks nine reliefs from the Federal High Court in Abuja.

El-Rufai’s latest legal challenge focuses on the conditions of his detention and his continued access to members of his immediate family.

He asked the court to declare that his fundamental rights under Part IV of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, remain valid and enforceable notwithstanding his detention.

The former governor argued that his detention should not extinguish his constitutional protections, particularly his rights to dignity and private and family life.

According to him, the alleged repeated denial of access to his wife, Mrs Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, had prevented them from providing him with food, medication and other necessities.

El-Rufai specifically asked the court to declare that the refusal or prevention of family access without lawful justification or a court order breached his rights under Sections 34 and 37 of the Constitution and Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

He further alleged that ICPC officers physically restrained and intimidated his wife and son on July 7, describing the incident as an arbitrary interference with the relationship between him and his immediate family.

Meanwhile, Sanusi also called for politicians and the judiciary to allow the 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 said.(SaharaReporters)