Nigeria: El-Rufai to Spend Night in EFCC Custody - Aide

16 February 2026

Malam Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, will spend the night in custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Muyiwa Adekeye, his media aide, has confirmed.

El-Rufai, who honoured the invitation of the anti-graft agency on Monday morning, has been answering questions from detectives.

At 10:07pm, Adekeye tweeted: "UPDATE: Malam Nasir @elrufai today honoured the invitation extended to him by the EFCC. He had a frank and fruitful interaction with the EFCC officials, whom his counsel noted were entirely professional in their approach and conduct. He remains with the EFCC."

NAN quoted a source to have said detectives grilled El-Rufai over alleged fraud during his tenure as governor of Kaduna from 2015 to 2023.

"He is with our investigators, but cannot confirm how long he would be questioned, it is still early to know how long he will stay there," the source was quoted to have said.

However, another source hinted on the possibility of being taken to court for arraignment.

As El-Rufai was being grilled by the EFCC, the Department of State Services filed charges against him for allegedly bugging the phone of Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser.

While speaking on ARISE Television over the weekend, El-Rufai had said someone tapped Ribadu's phone and heard him ordering his arrest.

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