Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has reportedly connected several high-value properties in Egypt to Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State.
Investigators reportedly uncovered the properties during an ongoing probe into financial dealings linked to El-Rufai’s time in office between 2015 and 2023.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the assets consist of three villas and six apartments located in affluent areas of New Cairo, a modern district in Egypt’s capital city.
The villas are located in Arabilla Estate and Banafsik Estate, where properties typically sell for between $1,000,000 and $1,300,000. Four apartments are reportedly located in Cairo Festival City, where units are estimated to cost around $500,000 each. Two other apartments were reportedly traced to Oriana Estate in the same district.
Sources said the properties were acquired between 2021 and 2023 while El-Rufai was still serving as governor of Kaduna State in northwestern Nigeria.
The former governor has not directly addressed the claims about the Egyptian properties but has repeatedly denied wrongdoing since his arrest. He has described the ongoing investigation as politically motivated.
In a 2023 interview conducted in Hausa, El-Rufai insisted that he owned only one house.
“We aren’t like such people. I became the Governor of Kaduna State with only one house located at Danja Street in Unguwan Sarki, Kaduna,” he said.
“I have completed my tenure, Alhamdulillah…that is my only house. I don’t have any other house. I didn’t build a mansion. I don’t even need it.”
El-Rufai has been in the custody of the anti-corruption commission since February 18, 2026.
Investigators raided his residence in Abuja on February 19, where equipment believed to be used for intercepting phone communications was reportedly discovered.
Before his detention by the anti-corruption agency, the former governor had been questioned by Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency over his claim that the phone of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu had been tapped.
The intelligence agency later filed charges accusing him of intercepting the national security adviser’s telephone conversation.
The former governor also spent two nights at the headquarters of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after arriving from Cairo on February 12.
The investigation followed an earlier report by the Kaduna State House of Assembly which accused him of diverting ₦423 billion in public funds and requested that anti-corruption agencies investigate the allegations.
El-Rufai has challenged the actions of investigators in court. He filed a lawsuit claiming that the search of his Abuja residence violated his fundamental rights.
He is asking the court to rule that any materials seized during the operation should not be used as evidence against him. He is also seeking ₦1 billion in damages for alleged trespass and reputational harm.
His lawyers have also accused the anti-corruption agency of defamation and warned that further legal action may follow.
His family has called for his immediate release, arguing that his continued detention has no legal basis.