News Investigators/ The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Dec. 8 for judgment in a N10 billion rights suit filed by former Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that El-Rufai also joined ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) in the suit.
He alleged that they prevented him from having access to his wife, Mrs Aichatou Asabe; and son, Abba while in custody.
Justice Chigozie Onah fixed the date after the former govenor’s counsel, Ubong Akpan; the ICPC’s lawyer, Yetunde Mosunmola, and Maimuna Lami-Shiru, who appeared for the AGF, adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the case.
Earlier when the case was called, the judge ordered that the footage of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the ICPC’s office be played for 20 minutes each by parties to prove their arguments.
The commission, led by its lawyer, demonstrated some parts of the video clip in the open court.
Parts of the footage played include the incident of July 7 where Asabe, escorted by an officer, came to deliver food to the ex-governor at about 2:37pm, the incident involving Abba and the July 4 incident.
Mosunmola then urged the court to disregard El-Rufai’s claim.
On his part, Akpan, who asked that some parts of the footage of the CCTV earlier demonstrated be replayed, argued that neither Abba (El-Rufai’s son) nor Asabe had breached any security protocol from the video evidence to warrant their denial.
After the video recording was played, the parties adopted their processes.
Adopting his court documents, Akpan said their originating process was dated and filed on Aug. 13.
He said it was supported by an originating motion, an affidavit and an exhibit attached to the eight-paragraph affidavit with a written address.
The lawyer said four additional affidavits were filed in support of their arguments, urging the court to grant all their reliefs.
Akpan, who raised a sole question for determination, prayed the court to determine whether the respondents had been able to place any material fact before the court to prove their decision to bar El-Rufai’s wife access.
He argued that if there must be a denial of access to the detained ex-govenor, there must be justification which must be verifiable.
“I, therefore, submit that non of the materials before my lord shows a verifiability and justification,” he said.
He said for the purpose of the instant case, the denial of access of his relatives would constitute a breach of the law, including the Nelson Mandela Rules.
When the judge asked him if Mandela Rules are enforceable in Nigeria, Akpan responded that it is a standard in which all law enforcement agencies in the world operate.
Mosunmola, however, disagreed with Akpan’s submissions.
She said on behalf of the ICPC and its chairman, they filed three processes in opposing the suit.
She said a 27-paragraph counter affidavit with four exhibits and a written address were filed on Aug. 31.
The lawyer said a further counter affidavit was also filed on Sept. 28, among others.
Mosunmola said they relied on all the paragraphs of the counter affidavits, including the exhibits, in urging the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
The lawyer, who stated that El-Rufai was in a lawful custody, submitted that access to him must be guided by security protocol within the facility.
She argued that it was glaring from the CCTV footage demonstrated in court that Asabe (El-Rufai’s wife) breached the security protocol on two occasions.
She maintained that Irrespective of how close a relative is to a person in custody, such person cannot be given an unrestricted access to the facility where there are rules that guide custodial access.
“Access is regulated by rules for security reasons my lord,” she added.
She said following Asabe’s alleged security breach, the anti-corruption commission reviewed its security setup.
Mosunmola, who asked if the measures adopted in restricting Asabe was really necessary, answered that the records showed that it was only Asabe that was not allowed access due to her conduct which had been demonstrated in the footage before the court.
She stated that Asabe was smuggled into the premises with the connivance of their officers on duty on July 4.
She said the officers were subjected to disciplinary action and one of them had been dismissed.
“My lord will see that the other wife and other members of his family were allowed in from the footage displayed,” she said.
Mosunmola, therefore, urged the court to hold that El-Rufai’s rights had not been unlawfully interfered with.
In her submission, Lami-Shiru, Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law, said the AGF, in his opposition to the suit, filed a seven-paragraph affidavit on Sept. 11.
She said they equally filed a written address and a reply on points of law, urging the court to dismiss the suit.
The director submitted that their argument was predicated on the facts that the ICPC and its chairman acted within the confines of the law and that El-Rufai’s wife actually breached the commission’s protocol.
After listening to the parties, Justice Onah adjourned the matter until Dec. 8 for judgment.
NAN reports that the detained governor had instituted the suit against the ICPC, its Chairman, Aliyu, and the AGF as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
El-Rufai, in the originating motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026 and filed by Akpan on Aug. 13, sought a N10 billion in damages for allegedly preventing him from having access to his wife, Asabe; and son, Abba, while in custody.
The former governor, who alleged that his wife and son were denied to see him, sought nine reliefs.
He prayed the court to declare that his fundamental human rights guaranteed under Part IV of the 1999 Constitution (as amended} remain inviolable and in force notwithstanding his detention by the commission and should be honoured.
Responding in a joint counter affidavit filed by the ICPC and its chairman but deposed to by John Uche, a Chief Anti-Corruption Assistant in the Internal Security Support Unit, they said that many paragraphs in El-Rufai’s affidavit in support of his suit, were false.
Uche averred that the applicant (El-Rufai) was in the lawful custody of the commission by order of the Federal High Court (FHC), Kaduna Judicial Division in charge number: FHC/KD/73C/2025.
He said on July 7, in compliance with the order of the Kaduna FHC, permitting access to El-Rufai’s personal physician, the commission facilitated a medical visit to his personal physician accompanied by their officers and his wife, Asabe.
He said shortly after the hospital visit, the ICPC received a report that the said medical visit was turned into a political meeting in breach of its security protocol demonstrating that the existing access control environment was vulnerable.
He said against this development, the commission adopted a temporary-access control measure temporarily restricting non-essential access to the ex-govenor because unrestricted access presented a continuing risk until the vulnerability was understood and adequately mitigated.
The officer said as this was happening on July 7, El-Rufai’s son, Abba, went to their office requesting to see his father and approached him (Uche) at his desk.
He said after he was prevented from gaining entry into the building, Abba lay in the gutter and repeatedly rubbed his leg against the edge of the gutter.
Uche said the commission has CCTV cameras installed at various strategic locations within and around its office premises for security and monitoring purposes, which also record activities and events occurring with their respective fields of view.
He said that the contents of the storage system, including the CCTV recordings, remained accurate and were not altered or tampered with during the material period.
Uche said that following a second security breach on July 7, the ICPC determined that its existing access arrangements were no longer adequate warranting an urgent review.
The officer said during the course of the review, the commission uncovered another security breach involving Asabe.
He said that Asabe was allegedly smuggled into the ICPC’s premises on July 4 at about 7:35pm after official visiting hours with the connivance of some officers of the commission, who are currently facing disciplinary action.
He said that based on Asabe’s repeated disregard for access control protocols, the commission determined that her continued access posed a specific security risk.
NAN