Court rejects el-Rufai’s suit against ICPC asset freeze

A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a suit by former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai seeking to stop the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other agencies from freezing his bank accounts or seizing his assets, TheCable reports.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik dismissed the suit on Thursday, holding that it was an abuse of court process. She agreed with the respondents that el-Rufai had filed similar suits before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court and the federal high court. She also held that a court cannot be used to stop law enforcement agencies from carrying out their statutory duties. The judge described the suit as speculative and lacking in merit, and struck out the EFCC, DSS and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) as respondents for disclosing no reasonable cause of action against them.

El-Rufai, who filed the suit on February 24, argued that the severance pay he received after his 2015 to 2023 tenure could not reasonably be suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity. He sought a declaration that properties bought with it were lawfully acquired, along with N1 billion in damages and N100 million in costs.

In its objection, the ICPC said his arrest, the search of his residence and the anticipated freezing of his assets all arose from a single, ongoing criminal investigation. It accused him of fragmenting his claims by filing three suits before two court hierarchies within 12 days, risking conflicting decisions. The AGF’s representative, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, said an interim forfeiture order is not a final one and does not by itself violate his rights.