Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna state governor, has sued the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Enforcement 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 praying the court to nullify the search warrant issued by a magistrate court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on February 4, authorising the search and seizure at his residence.
El-Rufai has been in the custody of the ICPC since Wednesday, February 18, in “connection with investigations”.
On Thursday, Muyiwa Adekeye, the media aide to el-Rufai, said agents of the anti-corruption agency “unlawfully” conducted a search at the former governor’s Abuja residence.
In the fundamental rights suit filed before the federal high court in Abuja, el-Rufai joined the chief magistrate who issued the order, the inspector-general of police (IGP), and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) as respondents in the suit.
He is seeking, among other reliefs, 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.
El-Rufai is also asking the court to hold that any evidence obtained from the search is inadmissible in any proceeding against him, on the grounds that it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.
He is further seeking an order restraining the respondents from relying on or tendering any material seized during the search in the course of any investigation or prosecution.
The former Kaduna governor is praying the court to direct the ICPC and the IGP to return all items taken from his residence, alongside a detailed inventory.
He is demanding N1 billion as general, exemplary and aggravated damages for what he described as trespass, unlawful seizure and the 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 what he termed 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 cost of filing the suit, including legal fees.
‘WARRANT RIDDLED WITH DEFECTS’
In his grounds of argument, Iyamu contended that the search warrant was fundamentally defective.
He argued 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,” the lawyer said.
Iyamu cited sections 143 to 148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, arguing that the provisions require that applications for search warrants be supported by written information on oath setting out reasonable grounds for suspicion.
He said the warrant “vaguely referred to ‘the thing aforesaid’ without any particular description”, adding that it was not in the prescribed form and contained errors in the address, date and district designation.
Iyamu also argued that the warrant was indiscriminately addressed to “all officers”, which he described as overbroad and unaccountable.
An affidavit deposed to by Mohammed Shaba, described as a principal secretary to the former governor, noted that operatives of the ICPC and the police stormed the residence at about 2 pm on February 19.
Shaba claimed 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 alleged that personal items, including documents and electronic devices, were seized during the search.
According to him, none of the items taken has been returned, and the respondents “continue to rely on the unlawful evidence”.
He said the application was brought in good faith to enforce el-Rufai’s constitutional rights.
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