The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a ₦1 billion fundamental rights suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over a search of his Abuja residence by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Mr Fagbemi, through counsel from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, argued that the suit lacked merit and that El-Rufai had failed to establish a reasonable cause of action.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, followed a search of El-Rufai’s residence on Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, by ICPC officials and police officers.
El-Rufai is challenging the validity of the search warrant used during the operation. He wants the court to declare the warrant invalid, arguing that drafting errors, ambiguity and other alleged defects made the search an unlawful and unreasonable intrusion into his privacy.
He also alleges that the search and seizure violated his constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy.
At Monday’s proceedings, the AGF told the court that he had filed a counter-affidavit opposing the suit. He denied that El-Rufai’s fundamental rights were violated and maintained that the ICPC and Inspector-General of Police acted within the law.
Fagbemi further argued that items recovered from the residence were relevant to an ongoing investigation. He also alleged that the suit constituted an abuse of court process because other cases concerning the same subject matter are reportedly pending before an FCT High Court.
The AGF therefore asked the court to dismiss the application.
The ICPC has also filed a counter-affidavit seeking dismissal of the suit. The commission said the search formed part of an investigation into a petition against El-Rufai and that its officers conducted the operation pursuant to a search warrant issued by a competent court.
The court’s determination of the suit will establish whether the challenged search and warrant complied with the applicable legal and constitutional requirements.
