The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, seeking an order restraining the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Department of State Services (DSS), and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from freezing his bank accounts. The court, led by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, ruled that the suit was an abuse of court process.
El-Rufai had filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/368/2026, on February 24, 2026, seeking to prevent the respondents from taking any step to freeze his bank accounts or seize his assets, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit. He listed several bank accounts, including those with Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, and Access Bank. The former governor prayed the court to declare that his severance pay, received upon completion of his tenure as governor, could not be suspected to be proceeds of any unlawful activity.
The ICPC, EFCC, DSS, and AGF had argued that the suit was speculative and lacked merit. The ICPC, in its preliminary objection, submitted that El-Rufai's arrest, the search of his residence, and the anticipated asset tracing and freezing all stemmed from a singular, continuous, and ongoing criminal investigation by the commission. The commission argued that El-Rufai engaged in forum shopping and fragmentation of his claims by instituting three parallel suits across two different court hierarchies within a span of just 12 days.
The DSS, in its preliminary objection, urged the court to strike out the suit for being incompetent and also prayed the court to strike out its name from the suit for failure to disclose any reasonable cause of action against the service. The AGF, in his counter affidavit, argued that the 4th respondent is only a necessary party in suits that directly involve the Federal Government of Nigeria. The AGF's lawyer, Mrs. Maimuna Lami-Shiru, submitted that the depositions in El-Rufai's affidavit were speculative.
Justice Abdulmalik agreed with the arguments of the ICPC, EFCC, DSS, and AGF that a court of law cannot be used by any citizen to prevent law enforcement agencies from performing their statutory duties. The judge held that the suit was speculative in nature and lacked merit. She also agreed that the case did not disclose any reasonable cause of action against the EFCC, DSS, and AGF, and subsequently struck out their names from the suit.
El-Rufai had sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from taking any step whatsoever to freeze, attach, seize, forfeit, or otherwise interfere with his said property and bank accounts. He also sought an order awarding the sum of N1 billion as general, exemplary, and aggravated damages against the respondents jointly and severally. Additionally, he sought an order awarding the sum of N100 million as costs of the action against the respondents.
The court's decision marks a significant development in the case against El-Rufai, who had sought to prevent the law enforcement agencies from taking any action against him. The dismissal of the suit paves the way for the ICPC and other agencies to proceed with their investigations and any subsequent actions.
Key points
- The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
- The suit sought to restrain the ICPC, EFCC, DSS, and AGF from freezing his bank accounts.
- The court ruled that the suit was an abuse of court process and lacked merit.
