The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the 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) to June 17 for hearing.
ENigeria Newspaper gathered that the adjournment followed an application by El-Rufai’s legal team to withdraw the Chief Magistrate earlier listed as a defendant in the case. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik granted the request and struck out the magistrate’s name from the suit.
“In view of this development, we urge My Lord to strike out the name of the second defendant as a party in this suit,” El-Rufai’s counsel, Ugochukwu Nnakwu, told the court. The application was not opposed by lawyers representing the ICPC, the police, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
El-Rufai had dragged the anti-corruption agency to court over what he described as an unlawful raid on his Abuja residence, challenging the validity of the search warrant used during the operation. He argued that the warrant was “invalid, null, and void,” citing alleged defects including “ambiguity, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause.”
El-Rufai requested in his lawsuit, among other things, that the court rule that any evidence gathered through the illegal search and invalid warrant “is inadmissible in any proceedings against the applicant, as it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.”
He also asked for an order of injunction that would forbid the respondents and their agents from using, submitting, or depending on any evidence or materials discovered during the unlawful search in any further inquiries, prosecutions, or court cases involving him.
The court rejected the ICPC’s counsel’s argument that the removal of the magistrate compromised the case’s merits, pointing out that the agency may reply in its documents.
“The respondent is at liberty to file a counter-affidavit,” Justice Abdulmalik said.
Recall that ENigeria Newspaper reported that the suit is one of several legal battles involving the former governor, who is also facing allegations linked to the interception of communications involving the National Security Adviser.
