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₦1bn rights suit: El-Rufai challenges ICPC search warrant
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Abuja residence raid: Ex-governor alleges unlawful invasion, rights violation
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Seeks damages, injunction: Demands return of seized items, court declaration
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has filed a ₦1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over the alleged unlawful search of his Abuja residence.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026 and filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, El-Rufai is challenging the validity of a search warrant issued on February 4 by a Chief Magistrate of the FCT Magistrate Court.
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The former governor, through his legal team led by Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), argued that the warrant authorising the search of his residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, was defective and unconstitutional.
He contended that the warrant lacked specificity, contained drafting errors, was overly broad, and failed to establish probable cause, thereby violating his fundamental rights under Sections 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the 1999 Constitution.
El-Rufai named the ICPC as the first respondent, alongside the Chief Magistrate of the FCT Magistrate Court, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Attorney-General of the Federation as co-respondents.
He is asking the court to declare the search warrant null and void and to rule that any evidence obtained during the February 19 search is inadmissible in any proceedings against him.
The former governor is also seeking an order compelling the authorities to return all items allegedly seized during the operation, along with a detailed inventory.
In his claims for damages, El-Rufai is demanding ₦300 million as compensatory damages for psychological trauma, ₦400 million as exemplary damages to deter future misconduct, and ₦300 million as aggravated damages for what he described as malicious and oppressive conduct.
Also, he is requesting ₦100 million as the cost of filing the suit.
His counsel cited provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and relevant judicial precedents to argue that the search was carried out without lawful justification and in breach of constitutional safeguards.
The court is yet to fix a date for hearing.