El-Rufai drags ICPC to court, demands N1bn over alleged Abuja home raid

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has instituted a N1 billion lawsuit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other parties, challenging what he described as the unlawful invasion and search of his Abuja residence.

The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeks a declaration that the search warrant used by operatives to gain entry into his home was invalid and unconstitutional.

El-Rufai contends that the warrant was fundamentally defective, describing it as “null and void for lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause.”

According to court filings, officers of the ICPC, accompanied by personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, allegedly searched his residence at No. 12 Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on February 19 at about 2 p.m.

The former governor maintains that the operation violated his constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy. He is urging the court to declare that any evidence obtained during the search is inadmissible in any investigation or criminal proceeding on the grounds that it was unlawfully procured.

In addition to seeking declaratory reliefs, El-Rufai is asking the court to order the ICPC and the Inspector-General of Police to immediately return all items allegedly seized during the operation. He also wants the agencies to provide a comprehensive inventory of the confiscated materials.

The N1 billion damages sought in the suit are broken down as follows: N300 million for psychological trauma, emotional distress, and loss of personal security; N400 million as exemplary damages to deter what he termed future misconduct by law enforcement agencies;

N300 million as aggravated damages for what he described as the “malicious, high-handed and oppressive nature of the operation.”

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He is further claiming N100 million to cover legal expenses.

El-Rufai’s legal counsel argued that the search warrant failed to clearly specify the items to be seized and allegedly contained errors relating to the address, date, and district details. According to the lawyer, the document did not meet statutory requirements, thereby rendering the entire search exercise unlawful.

“Evidence obtained without a valid warrant is unlawful and inadmissible,” the counsel stated in court filings.

An affidavit deposed to by a senior aide to the former governor alleged that officers searched the property without lawful authority, seized personal documents and electronic devices, and subjected the household to undue humiliation, psychological trauma, and distress.

As of press time, the Federal High Court has not fixed a date for the hearing of the case.