Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, has sued the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged unlawful invasion of his Abuja residence.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, El-Rufai, through his team of lawyers led by Oluwole Iyamu, is asking the federal high court in Abuja to nullify the search warrant issued by a magistrate court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on February 4, which authorised the search and seizure at his residence.
El-Rufai has been in ICPC custody since Wednesday, February 18, in connection with ongoing investigations.
On Thursday, his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, alleged that operatives of the anti-corruption agency “unlawfully” conducted a search at the former governor’s Abuja home.
In the suit, El-Rufai joined the chief magistrate who issued the warrant, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as respondents.
He is seeking a declaration that the search and seizure carried out by operatives of the ICPC and the Nigeria Police Force violated his fundamental rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy as guaranteed under Sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Constitution.
The former governor is also asking the court to hold that any evidence obtained from the search is inadmissible in any proceedings against him, on the grounds that it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.
He further seeks an order restraining the respondents from relying on or tendering any material seized during the search in the course of any investigation or prosecution, as well as an order directing the ICPC and the IGP to return all items taken from his residence, alongside a detailed inventory.
El-Rufai is demanding N1 billion as general, exemplary and aggravated damages for what he described as trespass, unlawful seizure, psychological trauma and reputational harm allegedly occasioned by the search.
According to the breakdown in the suit, N300 million is claimed as compensatory damages for psychological trauma and emotional distress; N400 million as exemplary damages to deter alleged misconduct by law enforcement agencies; and N300 million as aggravated damages for what he described as “malicious, high-handed and oppressive” actions.
He is also seeking N100 million as the cost of filing the suit, including legal fees.
Arguing that the warrant was riddled with defects, Iyamu contended that it lacked specificity in describing the items to be seized, contained material typographical errors and was overbroad in its directives.
“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,” he argued.
Citing Sections 143 to 148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Iyamu said the law requires that applications for search warrants be supported by written information on oath setting out reasonable grounds for suspicion.
He added that the warrant “vaguely referred to ‘the thing aforesaid’ without any particular description”, was not in the prescribed form, and contained errors in the address, date and district designation.
He also described the warrant as indiscriminately addressed to “all officers”, which he argued was overbroad and unaccountable.
In an affidavit deposed to by Mohammed Shaba, identified as a principal secretary to the former governor, it was stated that operatives of the ICPC and the police stormed the residence at about 2 pm on February 19.
Shaba alleged that the warrant did not specify the properties or items being searched for and that the officers failed to submit themselves for search before carrying out the operation.
He further claimed that personal items, including documents and electronic devices, were seized during the search and that none of the items has been returned, while the respondents allegedly continue to rely on what he described as unlawfully obtained evidence.
According to him, the application was brought in good faith to enforce El-Rufai’s constitutional rights.
