Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday withdrew his fundamental rights enforcement suit against a Chief Magistrate of the Federal Capital Territory Magistrate’s Court who had been listed as the second defendant in his ₦1bn damages claim.
Papers News reports that the development was disclosed at the Federal High Court in Abuja during proceedings before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
Counsel to the former governor, Ugochukwu Nnakwu, informed the court shortly after the matter was called that a motion had been filed to withdraw the suit against the magistrate.
According to the lawyer, the motion, dated and filed on March 30, sought to remove the magistrate from the list of defendants.
“We urge my lord to strike out the name of the second defendant as a party in this suit,” Nnakwu said.
He also asked the court to strike out an earlier motion seeking substituted service of court processes on the magistrate.
Counsel for the Nigeria Police Force, Ezekiel Rimamsomte; the representative of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Maimuna Shiru; and Abdul Mohammed (SAN), counsel for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, did not oppose the application.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently struck out the magistrate’s name from the suit and also removed the motion ex parte from the court’s record.
Following the withdrawal, Nnakwu requested an adjournment to enable him to amend the suit.
However, Mohammed opposed the request, arguing that the case could no longer stand after the magistrate’s name had been removed.
He told the court that some of the reliefs sought by the former governor were directly linked to the search warrant issued by the magistrate.
According to him, striking out the magistrate as a defendant meant that the case had no basis before the court.
In response, Justice Abdulmalik urged counsel to allow the plaintiff to proceed with his case.
“Counsel, you are jumping the gun. You can respond to this by filing a counter-affidavit,” the judge said.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter to June 17 to enable the plaintiff to file an amended process.
Background Of The ₦1 Billion Suit
El-Rufai is seeking ₦1bn in damages against the ICPC, the Chief Magistrate of the FCT Magistrate’s Court, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The respondents were listed as the first to fourth defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, filed on February 20.
In the application filed by his counsel, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), the former governor asked the court to declare that the search of his residence at No. 12 Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on February 19 violated his fundamental rights.
He argued that the operation infringed on his rights to human dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy as guaranteed under Sections 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Constitution.
He also asked the court to declare that any evidence obtained during the search was inadmissible.
“Any evidence obtained pursuant to the aforesaid invalid warrant and unlawful search is inadmissible in any proceedings against the applicant,” he argued.
ICPC, Police Defend Investigation
In its counter-affidavit, the ICPC said the search followed a petition against the former governor and was carried out under a valid search warrant issued on February 18.
The commission stated that the warrant was executed on February 19 between 1:37 pm and 3:56 pm at the Abuja residence.
According to the agency, the operation was conducted in the presence of El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza El-Rufai, and his son, Mohammed El-Rufai.
The ICPC also listed several items allegedly recovered during the search and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
Similarly, the police argued that the operation was conducted in line with a lawful search warrant issued by a competent court.
The police said their officers complied with all legal procedures and accused the former governor of attempting to use the court to shield himself from investigation.
“The applicant is trying to use the honourable court to shield him from the security investigation and prosecution in the court of law,” the police stated in their affidavit.
