CodeIgniter Active Record not equal

According to the manual this should work:

Custom key/value method:

You can include an operator in the first parameter in order to control the comparison:

$this->db->where('name !=', $name);
$this->db->where('id <', $id);
Produces: WHERE name != 'Joe' AND id < 45

Search for $this->db->where(); and look at item #2.