The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a ₦1bn fundamental rights suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over the search of his Abuja residence by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Mr Fagbemi, through a lawyer from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, argued that the suit lacked merit and that Mr El-Rufai had failed to establish a reasonable cause of action.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, followed the search of Mr El-Rufai’s residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, by ICPC officials and police officers.
Mr El-Rufai is challenging the validity of the search warrant used during the operation. He wants the court to declare the warrant invalid and void, alleging that it contained drafting errors, ambiguity and other defects that made the search an unlawful and unreasonable intrusion into his privacy.
He also contends that the search and seizure violated his constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy.
AGF says agencies acted within the law
At Monday’s proceedings, the AGF notified the court that he had filed a counter-affidavit challenging the competence of the suit.
Mr Fagbemi denied that Mr El-Rufai’s fundamental rights were violated, maintaining that the ICPC and Inspector-General of Police acted within the law when the search was conducted.
He further argued that items recovered from the residence were required to assist the ongoing investigation. The AGF also contended that Mr El-Rufai’s case amounted to an abuse of court process because, according to the Federal Government, there are other pending suits concerning the same subject matter before an FCT High Court.
The AGF consequently urged the court to dismiss the former governor’s application.
ICPC defends search and seized items
The ICPC had earlier filed its own counter-affidavit seeking the dismissal of the suit.
The commission said the search was carried out as part of an investigation into a petition against Mr El-Rufai and that its officers acted pursuant to a search warrant issued by a competent court.
