The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday fixed December 2 for judgment in a N1 billion fundamental rights suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Justice Joyce Abdulmalik fixed the date after the parties adopted their court processes. El-Rufai’s counsel, Ubong Akpan, arrived late and was informed that the court had already deemed his processes adopted.
El-Rufai is seeking N1 billion in damages over the search of his Abuja residence on February 19, alleging violations of his rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy.
He is also seeking the return of items seized and an order barring the respondents from using any evidence obtained during the operation.
The former governor further asked the court to declare the search warrant invalid and rule that evidence obtained from the search was inadmissible in any proceedings against him.
However, the ICPC and the police maintained that the search was conducted under a valid warrant issued by a competent court. The ICPC said it launched an investigation following a petition against El-Rufai, while the police insisted that their officers complied with due process.
The AGF denied being privy to the details of the search but argued that the ICPC and police acted within their statutory powers. He also described the suit as an abuse of court process, alleging that El-Rufai had two pending cases on the same subject before the FCT High Court.
Counsel to the three respondents urged Justice Abdulmalik to dismiss the suit for lacking merit.
