Federal High Court Throws Out El-Rufai’s Suit Against ICPC, EFCC, DSS Freezing Assets
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai seeking to restrain the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other law enforcement agencies from freezing his bank accounts and seizing his assets.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik dismissed the suit for being an abuse of court process, holding that El-Rufai had filed a similar case before the FCT High Court.
The court also held that the suit was speculative and did not disclose any reasonable cause of action against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Department of State Services (DSS) and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
Their names were subsequently struck out.
El-Rufai had filed the suit on February 24, 2026, through his counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, seeking an interim injunction directing the respondents to maintain the status quo.
He also asked the court to declare that his severance benefits received after completing his tenure as Kaduna governor between 2015 and 2023 could not reasonably be suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
The former governor further sought declarations that properties acquired with the severance pay were lawfully purchased and owned by him.
He listed several bank accounts including Zenith Bank Plc, Naira Account Number: 1007158671; Zenith Bank Pic, Domiciliary Account Number: 507 1511327; Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc (GTB), Account Number: 0023824978; Access Bank, Dollar Account Number: 1396386493 and Access Bank, Naira Account Number: 1396382103.
He asked the court to restrain the respondents from applying for or obtaining any interim or final forfeiture or freezing order without first establishing reasonable suspicion backed by credible evidence.
El-Rufai also sought N1 billion in general, exemplary and aggravated damages over what he described as the anticipated violation of his fundamental rights, as well as N100 million in costs.
However, the ICPC, through its counsel, Abdul Mohammed, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as incompetent and an abuse of court process.
The commission argued that El-Rufai’s arrest, the search of his residence and the anticipated asset tracing and freezing were part of a single, ongoing criminal investigation.
It said the former governor had engaged in forum shopping by filing three parallel suits across the Federal High Court and FCT High Court within a short period.
The ICPC cited another suit filed by El-Rufai at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the search warrant and enforcement of his fundamental rights, as well as a subsequent case before the FCT High Court challenging his remand and seeking enforcement of his rights.
According to the commission, the multiple suits created the risk of conflicting judgments from courts of coordinate jurisdiction.
The DSS also urged the court to strike out El-Rufai’s suit, arguing that it disclosed no reasonable cause of action against the service.
The Attorney-General of the Federation similarly argued that El-Rufai’s claims were speculative, stressing that an interim forfeiture order was not a final forfeiture order but a measure that could enable an investigating agency to continue its investigation.
The AGF’s representative, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law, submitted that the ICPC, EFCC and DSS were empowered to approach courts for forfeiture orders in the course of investigations.
In her judgment, Justice Abdulmalik agreed with the respondents that El-Rufai’s suit amounted to an abuse of court process.
The judge also held that courts could not be used to prevent law enforcement agencies from carrying out their statutory duties.
