The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled December 8 to deliver its judgement in a N10bn fundamental rights lawsuit filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Justice Chigozie Onah fixed the date on Wednesday after lawyers representing the parties presented their final arguments and adopted their court processes.
THE SUIT
El-Rufai instituted the case on August 13 in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, accusing the ICPC of repeatedly preventing his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba el-Rufai, from visiting him in detention.
He alleged that the commission also stopped his family members from bringing him food, medication and other essential items.
The former governor argued that the alleged restrictions infringed on his constitutional rights to dignity and private and family life under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Articles 5 and 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Among the nine reliefs sought, el-Rufai asked the court to declare that his fundamental rights under Part IV of the Constitution remained applicable despite his detention.
He listed ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, as the second and third defendants.
COURT PLAYS ICPC CCTV FOOTAGE
At Wednesday’s proceedings, the court ordered the playback of CCTV recordings obtained from cameras installed at the ICPC’s premises.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, one of the recordings showed an incident on July 7, when Asabe arrived at the commission’s office at about 2:37 pm, accompanied by an officer, to deliver food to her husband.
The court also watched footage relating to an earlier incident on July 4.
Following the playback, Ubong Akpan, counsel to el-Rufai, argued that the recordings did not show any breach of security procedures by the former governor’s wife or son that could justify denying them access.
Akpan urged the court to determine whether the defendants had provided sufficient evidence to support their decision to restrict family visits.
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He maintained that any decision to prevent relatives from seeing the former governor must be backed by clear and verifiable reasons.
The lawyer further argued that the alleged denial of access violated applicable legal provisions, including the Nelson Mandela Rules, which provide standards for the treatment of people in detention.
When the presiding judge questioned whether the rules were enforceable in Nigeria, Akpan explained that they served as internationally recognised standards guiding law enforcement agencies.
However, Yetunde Mosunmola, counsel to the ICPC, urged the court to dismiss the case, insisting that the CCTV recordings established that Asabe violated security procedures on two occasions.
She alleged that the former governor’s wife was secretly brought into the commission’s premises on July 4 with the assistance of officers on duty.
Mosunmola added that the officers involved faced disciplinary measures, with one of them subsequently dismissed from service.
After hearing the submissions from both parties and their adoption of the respective court processes, Justice Onah adjourned the matter until December 8 for judgement.