El-Rufai drags ICPC to court over alleged unlawful search of Abuja residence

By Sabiu Abdullahi

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has taken legal action against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing the agency of illegally raiding his residence in Abuja.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja through his legal team led by Oluwole Iyamu. In the case, El-Rufai is asking the court to invalidate a search warrant issued by a magistrate court in the Federal Capital Territory on February 4. The warrant authorised security operatives to conduct a search and seize items from his home.

El-Rufai has remained in ICPC custody since Wednesday, February 18, over what officials described as “connection with investigations”. His media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, earlier alleged that operatives of the anti-graft agency carried out an “unlawful” search at the residence.

In the fundamental rights enforcement suit, the former governor listed the chief magistrate who approved the warrant, the inspector-general of police, and the attorney-general of the federation as respondents.

He is seeking a court declaration that the actions of the ICPC and the Nigeria Police Force violated his constitutional rights. These include the rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy as provided under sections 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the constitution.

El-Rufai also asked the court to rule that any material obtained during the search should not be admitted as evidence in any legal proceedings against him. He argued that such evidence was obtained in violation of constitutional provisions. He further requested an order preventing the respondents from using any items seized during the operation.

In addition, the former governor urged the court to compel the ICPC and the police to return all items taken from his residence, along with a detailed list of those items.

He is demanding N1 billion in damages over what he described as trespass, unlawful seizure, psychological distress, and reputational damage. The claim includes N300 million as compensation for emotional trauma, N400 million as exemplary damages to discourage misconduct by law enforcement agencies, and N300 million as aggravated damages for what he termed “malicious, high-handed and oppressive” conduct.

El-Rufai also requested N100 million to cover the cost of filing the suit and legal representation.

‘Warrant Riddled With Defects’

In his argument, Iyamu maintained that the search warrant was fundamentally flawed. He said it failed to clearly state the items to be seized, contained significant drafting errors, and gave overly broad powers to those executing it.

“The search warrant was null and void for lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, over-breadth, and absence of probable cause, thereby constituting an unlawful and unreasonable search,” the lawyer said.

He cited sections 143 to 148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, noting that applications for search warrants must be backed by sworn statements that show reasonable grounds for suspicion.

Iyamu further stated that the warrant “vaguely referred to ‘the thing aforesaid’ without any particular description”, adding that it did not follow the prescribed format and contained mistakes related to address, date, and district.

He also criticised the directive for being addressed broadly to “all officers”, which he described as excessive and lacking accountability.

An affidavit deposed to by Mohammed Shaba, identified as a principal secretary to El-Rufai, claimed that operatives of the ICPC and police arrived at the residence around 2 pm on February 19.

Shaba alleged that the warrant did not specify the items being sought and that officers did not allow themselves to be searched before the operation. He also stated that personal belongings, including documents and electronic devices, were taken.

According to him, none of the seized items has been returned, and the authorities “continue to rely on the unlawful evidence”.

He added that the suit was filed in good faith to protect El-Rufai’s constitutional rights.