JUST IN: ICPC Fires Officer After Secret Visit by El-Rufai’s Wife Emerges

By Al-Amin Ciroma

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has dismissed a member of its internal security team after he allegedly helped Aichatou Assabe El-Rufai, one of the wives of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, gain unauthorised access to her husband while he was in custody.

The officer, identified as Daniel Stephen, was reportedly caught on CCTV facilitating the visit outside the commission’s approved visitor access procedure.

According to findings reported by TheCable, the incident occurred on July 5, 2026, when Stephen allegedly drove Mrs El-Rufai into the ICPC premises through a rear entrance and escorted her to the section where the former governor was being held.

Stephen reportedly admitted his involvement in a handwritten statement submitted to an investigative panel, acknowledging that he helped El-Rufai’s wife gain access to her husband through the back entrance.

The account reportedly indicated that the visit lasted about 15 minutes, during which Mrs El-Rufai handed her husband a document and discussed a court matter with him in Hausa before leaving the facility through the same route.

THE NATIONAL LENS also gathered that the security officer was said to have acknowledged that the visit breached established ICPC procedures, under which visitors are expected to have their details recorded at the gate and obtain clearance from the head of the security unit before entering restricted areas.

Stephen reportedly accepted responsibility for violating the commission’s rules in his statement.

The investigation has also raised questions about whether the July 5 incident was an isolated occurrence.

According to ICPC sources cited in the report, Stephen’s statement allegedly disclosed an earlier occasion when he helped Mrs El-Rufai further into the facility while officials were still confirming her identity.

He was also said to have told investigators that a man who identified himself as El-Rufai’s biological brother later approached him, after which he allegedly assisted the man into the facility through the same rear entrance.

The development is particularly significant because it comes weeks after El-Rufai instituted a ₦10 billion lawsuit against the ICPC, alleging that his wife and son had been denied access to him while he remained in custody.

In the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the former governor accused the commission of violating his constitutional rights and those of his family. The ICPC, however, maintained that access to detainees was subject to established procedures and disputed aspects of his account.

The latest development presents a contrasting dimension to the dispute, with the commission now taking disciplinary action against an officer accused of circumventing its own access procedures to facilitate a private visit.

The action does not, however, by itself determine the wider legal dispute between El-Rufai and the ICPC, which remains before the courts.

El-Rufai is currently facing criminal proceedings instituted by the ICPC. The commission has previously stated that his detention and prosecution are being conducted in accordance with the law, while the former governor has challenged aspects of the process.

The dismissal of the security officer is therefore likely to add another layer to the ongoing controversy surrounding El-Rufai’s detention, family access and the security procedures governing visits to persons held by the anti-corruption agency.