Breaking: Court Finally Gives Judgment on El-Rufai vs ICPC Suit
- A federal high court in Abuja dismissed Nasir el-Rufai's lawsuit against the ICPC and three other agencies over threats to his bank accounts and properties
- Presiding Judge Joyce Abdulmalik ruled that the former Kaduna governor filed similar suits before two different courts within 12 days, constituting an abuse of court process
- El-Rufai had sought N1 billion in damages and a perpetual injunction to protect assets he said were purchased with lawful severance pay from his time as governor
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A federal high court in Abuja has thrown out a suit filed by Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, in which he sought to block the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other government agencies from freezing his bank accounts or seizing his assets.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik dismissed the case on Thursday, ruling that it amounted to an abuse of court process.
Source: Twitter
The Cable reported that El-Rufai had dragged the ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) before the court as first to fourth respondents. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/368/2026, was filed on February 24 by his counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Why the court threw out the suit
The judge found that el-Rufai had filed similar suits before both the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court, accepting the respondents' argument that running parallel cases before courts of the same level created a risk of conflicting judgements. Abdulmalik also held that a court could not be used to prevent law enforcement agencies from performing their statutory duties, and described the suit as speculative and lacking in merit. She struck out the names of the EFCC, DSS and AGF as respondents, finding that the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action against them.
The ICPC had asked the court to dismiss the case outright, arguing that el-Rufai fragmented a single, ongoing criminal investigation into three separate suits filed before two different courts within 12 days. According to the commission, he filed one suit at the Federal High Court on February 20 challenging a search warrant, a second at the FCT High Court on March 3 challenging a remand order, and this third suit on February 24.
What El-Rufai sought from the court
In the dismissed suit, the former governor asked the court to restrain all four respondents from freezing his accounts or seizing his assets while the substantive matter was being heard. He argued that the severance pay he received after his governorship, which ran from 2015 to 2023, could not reasonably be considered proceeds of unlawful activity, and that properties purchased with those funds were lawfully owned.
Beyond the injunctions, el-Rufai sought N1 billion in general, exemplary and aggravated damages, citing psychological distress, anxiety and reputational harm he said would arise from any unlawful forfeiture proceedings. He also claimed N100 million in legal costs.
The AGF's representative, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law, argued that an interim forfeiture order was not a final forfeiture order and that seeking one did not, on its own, violate el-Rufai's rights, as the ICPC, EFCC and DSS were each legally empowered to apply to a competent court for such orders during investigations.
Source: Twitter
El-Rufai: Tension as ADC criticises Tinubu
Legit.ng earlier reported that Bolaji Abdullahi, the national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), issued a direct warning to Tinubu over the detention of former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Abdullahi alleged that El-Rufai's continued custody was politically motivated and designed to sideline him from the 2027 elections.
El-Rufai is facing separate trials by the DSS and ICPC, with his bail application dismissed in early July, while his wives appealed to Tinubu for help.
Source: Legit.ng
