The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s suit seeking to restrain the ICPC and other agencies from freezing his bank accounts or seizing his assets, ruling that the case amounted to an abuse of court process.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai seeking to prevent the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other agencies from freezing his bank accounts or seizing his assets.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, October 8, held that the suit constituted an abuse of court process because El-Rufai had filed similar cases before other courts.
The former governor had sued the ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
Justice Abdulmalik agreed with the respondents that the court could not be used to prevent law enforcement agencies from carrying out their statutory duties. She also held that the suit was speculative and lacked merit.
The judge further ruled that the case disclosed no reasonable cause of action against the EFCC, DSS and AGF, ordering that their names be struck out of the suit.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/368/2026, was filed on February 24 by El-Rufai’s counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN. The former governor sought an interim injunction restraining the respondents from freezing his bank accounts, seizing his properties or taking other steps against his assets pending the determination of the substantive case.
El-Rufai also asked the court to declare that his severance benefits from his tenure as Kaduna governor between 2015 and 2023 were lawfully earned and could not reasonably be suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity. He maintained that properties purchased with the funds were legally acquired.
He further argued that attempts to freeze or forfeit his assets without reasonable suspicion supported by credible evidence would violate his constitutional rights, including the presumption of innocence and the right to fair hearing.
The former governor sought a perpetual injunction against the agencies, N1 billion in general, exemplary and aggravated damages, and N100 million in litigation costs.
In its preliminary objection, the ICPC urged the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as incompetent and an abuse of court process.
The commission argued that El-Rufai had filed multiple suits arising from the same ongoing investigation, including a separate case challenging the search of his residence and another before the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
According to the ICPC, the former governor instituted three related suits across two court hierarchies within 12 days, seeking overlapping reliefs against the agencies. It argued that the approach amounted to forum shopping and created a risk of conflicting judgments.
The DSS also asked the court to strike out its name from the suit, arguing that no reasonable cause of action had been disclosed against the service.
Similarly, the Attorney-General of the Federation argued that El-Rufai’s claims were speculative and maintained that applications for interim forfeiture orders could be made by law enforcement agencies through a court of competent jurisdiction during investigations.
The dismissal concerns the suit seeking to prevent asset-freezing and seizure measures; it does not, by itself, establish that El-Rufai’s assets are proceeds of crime or determine the outcome of any underlying investigation.
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