Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday adjourned the one billion naira fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation to October 27, 2026, for definite hearing, after the AGF filed a counter-affidavit opposing the claims and the court granted leave for the processes to be regularised.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter to enable El-Rufai’s counsel, Akinyemi Aremu, to respond to the counter-affidavit filed by the AGF. When the case was called, Aremu told the court that the matter was scheduled for hearing. Counsel for the AGF, Mrs Maimuna Lami-Shiru, informed the court that a counter-affidavit had been filed by the AGF and prayed for leave to move a motion seeking an extension of time to deem the counter-affidavit as properly filed and served. Aremu, counsel to the IGP, ACP Ezekiel Rimamsomte, and the ICPC’s counsel did not oppose the application, and the judge granted it as prayed before adjourning the case until October 27 for a definite hearing.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, was dated and filed on February 20, 2026, by Oluwole Iyamu, SAN. El-Rufai initially sued the ICPC, the Chief Magistrate of the Magistrates’ Court of the Federal Capital Territory, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation as first to fourth respondents respectively. He later withdrew the magistrate’s name from the case after the court observed that he could not identify the magistrate he had sued. The former governor is now seeking one billion naira in damages from the ICPC, the IGP and the AGF over the search of his residence in Abuja.
At the heart of the dispute is the execution of a search warrant at El-Rufai’s residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on February 19, 2026. The former governor is asking the court for seven reliefs. He seeks a declaration that the search of his residence constituted a violation of his fundamental rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy guaranteed under Sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Constitution. He is also asking the court to declare any evidence obtained from the search inadmissible on the ground that it was allegedly obtained pursuant to an invalid warrant and unlawful search. He further wants an injunction restraining the respondents and their agents from relying on, using or tendering any items or evidence seized during the search in any investigation, prosecution or other proceedings involving him. He is seeking an order directing the ICPC and the IGP to return all items allegedly seized from his residence and provide a detailed inventory of the items. In addition, he is claiming one billion naira as general, exemplary and aggravated damages, broken down into three hundred million naira as compensatory damages for psychological trauma, emotional distress and loss of personal security; four hundred million naira as exemplary damages to deter future misconduct by law enforcement agencies; and three hundred million naira as aggravated damages for what he describes as the malicious, high-handed and oppressive nature of the respondents’ actions. He is also seeking one hundred million naira as the cost of filing the suit, including legal fees and associated expenses.
The AGF, in a counter-affidavit filed through a lawyer from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Maimuna Lami-Shiru, contended that El-Rufai failed to disclose any reasonable cause of action to warrant the grant of the reliefs he is seeking. While denying the allegation that the applicant’s rights were violated, the AGF insisted that both the ICPC and the IGP acted within the bounds of the law and urged the court to dismiss the suit as lacking in merit.
The ICPC, in its own counter-affidavit, said it received a petition against El-Rufai and commenced an investigation which led to the search of his residence. The commission maintained that its operatives acted pursuant to a valid search warrant issued on February 18 and executed the following day between 1:37 p.m. and 3:56 p.m. at 12 Mambilla Street, Asokoro, Abuja. It said police personnel accompanied its officials during the operation and that the exercise was witnessed by El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza, and his son, Mohammed. The ICPC listed items it said were recovered from the residence. The police, in their counter-affidavit deposed to by Inspector Ewa, also opposed the suit, though the full details of their response were not immediately available.
El-Rufai’s legal team, in its grounds of argument, contended that the search warrant was fundamentally defective, lacking specificity in the description of items to be seized, containing material typographical errors, ambiguous execution terms, overbroad directives and no verifiable probable cause. The former governor served as governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023 and previously as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
The adjournment to October 27 means the substantive hearing of the suit will not commence until late October, less than three months before the 2027 general elections, scheduled for January 16. The case is one of several legal and political disputes involving prominent figures in the lead-up to the elections, and its outcome will be closely watched as a test of the courts’ approach to fundamental rights claims arising from anti-corruption investigations. For now, the matter stands adjourned, with El-Rufai’s counsel expected to file a response to the AGF’s counter-affidavit before the next hearing date.
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