The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a ₦1bn fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over a search of his Abuja residence by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Fagbemi, through counsel from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Maimuna Lami-Shiru, urged Justice Joyce Abdulmalik to dismiss the suit for want of merit, arguing that El-Rufai had failed to disclose any reasonable cause of action to justify the reliefs he is seeking.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, names the ICPC and the Inspector-General of Police as respondents. The Chief Magistrate of the Federal Capital Territory Magistrates’ Court, who was initially joined as a respondent, was subsequently removed from the suit by the former governor.
El-Rufai instituted the action to challenge the legality of a search warrant used by the ICPC to search his residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on February 19.
He is asking the court to declare the warrant, dated February 18 and issued by a chief magistrate, invalid, null and void.
The former governor contends that the warrant was legally defective, alleging that it lacked particularity and contained “material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause.”
He argues that the alleged defects rendered the search an unlawful and unreasonable intrusion into his privacy, in violation of Section 37 of the Constitution.
El-Rufai is also asking the court to declare that the search of his residence and the seizure of items violated his fundamental rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Constitution.
At Monday’s proceedings, Fagbemi informed the court that he had filed a counter-affidavit challenging the competence of the suit.
The Attorney-General denied that El-Rufai’s rights had been violated and maintained that the ICPC and the police acted within the law. He consequently urged the court to dismiss the suit.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until October 27 to allow El-Rufai’s lawyer, Akinyemi Aremu, to respond to the AGF’s counter-affidavit.
The ICPC had earlier filed its own counter-affidavit seeking the dismissal of the suit.
The commission said the search was conducted as part of an investigation into a petition against the former governor and that its operatives acted pursuant to a valid search warrant issued by a competent court.
According to the ICPC, its officials were accompanied by police officers during the search, which was conducted in the presence of El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza, and son, Mohammed.
The police also defended the operation, maintaining that its officers have statutory powers to detect, arrest, investigate and prosecute offenders.
In a counter-affidavit deposed to by an inspector, Ewa Anthony, the police maintained that its officers lawfully executed a search warrant issued by a competent court.
Among other reliefs, El-Rufai is asking the court to declare any evidence obtained through what he describes as an unlawful search conducted pursuant to a defective warrant inadmissible in any proceedings against him.
He is also seeking an order restraining the respondents and their agents from using, relying on or tendering any of the items seized during the search in any investigation or prosecution involving him.
In addition, the former governor wants the ICPC and the Inspector-General of Police to return all items seized from his residence, together with a detailed inventory.
The items listed by the ICPC include electronic storage devices, mobile phones, flash drives, a MicroSD memory card, a reMarkable tablet and an Apple MacBook Pro, among others.
The anti-graft agency obtained court permission on March 12 to examine and analyse about 14 sets of electronic devices allegedly recovered during the search.
El-Rufai is also seeking ₦1bn in general, exemplary and aggravated damages over the alleged violation of his fundamental rights.
He is seeking ₦300m in compensatory damages for alleged psychological trauma, emotional distress and loss of personal security; ₦400m in exemplary damages to deter what he describes as future misconduct by law enforcement agencies; and ₦300m in aggravated damages over the alleged “malicious, high-handed, and oppressive nature” of the respondents’ actions.
He is further seeking ₦100m as the cost of the litigation.
The former governor is also facing other legal proceedings, including charges relating to the alleged interception of telephone communications involving the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
