The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled December 2 to deliver judgment in a 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), the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik fixed the date on Wednesday after lawyers representing the parties adopted their respective court processes and presented their final arguments.

El-Rufai’s counsel, Ubong Akpan, was initially absent when the matter was called. The judge subsequently deemed the former governor’s filed processes adopted.

Akpan later arrived in court and apologised for his lateness. However, when he sought permission to adopt the documents, the judge informed him that the processes had already been deemed adopted.

Counsel to the ICPC, Abdul Mohammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, urged the court to dismiss the suit. The lawyer representing the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ezekiel Rimamsomte, and the Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, who appeared for the Attorney-General of the Federation, also asked the court to throw out the case.

El-Rufai instituted the suit over a search conducted at his Abuja residence in February, arguing that the operation violated his fundamental rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution.

He is seeking N1 billion in general, exemplary and aggravated damages, alongside an order compelling the ICPC and the police to return all items seized from his residence and provide a detailed inventory of the recovered property.

The former governor also asked the court to declare the search of his residence at 12 Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, unlawful.

In its response, the ICPC maintained that the search was part of an investigation initiated after the commission received a petition against El-Rufai.

The commission stated that its operatives executed a search warrant issued by a competent court on February 18, with the operation conducted the following day between 1:37 p.m. and 3:56 p.m.

According to the ICPC, police personnel accompanied its officers during the operation, which was witnessed by El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza, and his son, Mohammed.

The commission also provided a list of items recovered from the residence and urged the court to dismiss the former governor’s claims.

The Inspector-General of Police, in a separate counter-affidavit deposed to by Inspector Ewa Anthony, maintained that the police acted within their statutory powers to detect, arrest, investigate and prosecute criminal offenders.

He argued that the search was conducted under a valid court-issued warrant, rejecting El-Rufai’s challenge to its legality.

The police chief further contended that the suit was an attempt to obstruct an ongoing security investigation and potential prosecution, urging the court to dismiss it.

Similarly, the Attorney-General of the Federation denied being directly involved in the circumstances surrounding the search but maintained that the ICPC and the police acted within their lawful mandates.

Represented by Lami-Shiru, the AGF argued that the seized items were required to facilitate the investigation and that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process.

He further claimed that El-Rufai had two other pending cases concerning the same subject matter before the Federal Capital Territory High Court.

The Attorney-General maintained that the former governor had not provided sufficient legal or evidential grounds to justify the reliefs sought and asked the court to dismiss the suit.

The court has now reserved its decision for December 2.