Court Dismisses El-Rufai Bid to Shield Assets From ICPC

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai seeking to restrain the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and other federal agencies from freezing his accounts or taking steps against identified properties.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik delivered the judgment on Thursday, October 8, holding that the suit constituted an abuse of court process because El-Rufai had already instituted related proceedings before other courts over issues arising from the same investigation.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/368/2026, was filed in February through Senior Advocate Oluwole Iyamu.

El-Rufai had asked the court to protect bank accounts held with Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Access Bank, as well as properties he said were lawfully acquired from his severance benefits after serving two terms as Kaduna governor.

He argued that any attempt to freeze or forfeit those assets without credible evidence would violate his constitutional rights, including the presumption of innocence and fair hearing.

The ICPC opposed the action, arguing that it was premature and duplicated other pending proceedings.

The Attorney-General of the Federation also maintained that interim forfeiture applications, where lawfully brought before a competent court, do not themselves amount to final confiscation or a violation of constitutional rights.

Justice Abdulmalik ultimately agreed that the Federal High Court could not be used to stop law-enforcement agencies from exercising functions lawfully assigned to them.

Importantly, the ruling does not declare El-Rufai’s assets to be proceeds of crime.

It simply means that this particular attempt to obtain a broad restraining order against future investigative or forfeiture action failed.

The decision leaves any actual freezing, seizure or forfeiture subject to separate statutory and judicial procedures.