Court Grants ICPC Access to Devices Seized from El-Rufai’s Home
The Federal High Court has granted the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) permission to access and analyse electronic devices recovered from the residence of Nasir El-Rufai.
The order was granted on Thursday by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik following an ex parte motion filed by the anti-graft agency.
Moving the application, counsel to the ICPC, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, urged the court to allow the commission access to the devices for inspection and forensic examination.
Akponimisingha told the court that the request was necessary to enable investigators conduct forensic analysis and extract data as part of an ongoing investigation involving the former governor.
Items listed by the commission include a Sony HD-EGS storage device, a 1TB Transcend storage device, a Toshiba storage device, a Samsung mobile phone, a Nokia N95 8GB mobile phone, a BlackBerry device and a Google IDEOS phone.
Others are a Samsung storage device (SPO802N), a Remarkable tablet, an Apple MacBook Pro, a Seagate FreeAgent external drive, a ZTE mobile phone, 10 flash drives and a microcell memory card.
The application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/499/2026, was filed in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against El-Rufai.
El-Rufai had earlier challenged the search of his Abuja residence by the ICPC carried out on February 19.
The former governor is asking the court to nullify the search warrant issued by a magistrate court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on February 4 authorising the search and seizure at his residence.
He is also seeking an order declaring that any evidence obtained from the search is inadmissible in any proceedings against him on the grounds that it was obtained in breach of constitutional safeguards.
El-Rufai is further demanding N1 billion as general, exemplary and aggravated damages for alleged violations of his fundamental rights, including trespass, unlawful seizure, psychological trauma, humiliation, distress and reputational harm.
The former governor joined the chief magistrate who issued the warrant, the inspector-general of police and the attorney-general of the federation as respondents in the suit.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
