Court grants ICPC forensic analysis of devices seized in El-Rufai probe

The Federal High Court of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday granted the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) permission to access and analyse electronic devices recovered from the residence of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik approved the request following an ex-parte motion filed by the anti-corruption agency and moved by its counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha.

The commission sought the court’s authorisation to inspect the devices and conduct forensic examination and data extraction as part of its ongoing investigation involving the former governor.

Court documents show that about 14 electronic devices were recovered during a search conducted at El-Rufai’s residence in Abuja.

Items listed include a Sony HD-EGS storage device, a Transcend 1TB storage device, a Toshiba storage device, Samsung and Nokia mobile phones, a Blackberry device and a Google IDEOS phone.

Other items recovered include a Samsung storage device, a Remarkable tablet, an Apple MacBook Pro laptop, a Seagate FreeAgent external drive, a ZTE mobile phone, 10 flash drives and a Microcell memory card.

Read also: ICPC secures fresh 14-day detention order for El-Rufai 

The ex-parte motion is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/499/2026 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and El-Rufai.

However, El-Rufai has filed a separate suit before the same court challenging the legality of the search carried out at his residence and seeking N1 billion in damages.

In the fundamental rights enforcement suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, the former governor named the ICPC, the Chief Magistrate of the FCT Magistrate Court, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation as respondents.

Through his lawyer, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), El-Rufai argued that the search conducted on February 19 at his residence located at 12 Mambilla Street, Asokoro, Abuja violated his constitutional rights.

He asked the court to declare that the operation breached his rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing and privacy under the Constitution.

The former governor also urged the court to rule that any evidence obtained during the search should be declared inadmissible in any proceedings against him.

He further requested an order restraining the authorities from using any items recovered during the search in any investigation or prosecution involving him.

El-Rufai also asked the court to direct the ICPC and the police to return all items seized from his residence and provide a detailed inventory of the materials.

In addition, he is seeking N1 billion as general, exemplary and aggravated damages.

In its response, the ICPC said it acted based on a petition received against the former governor and obtained a valid search warrant before conducting the operation.

The commission stated that the warrant was issued on February 18 and executed the following day between 1:37 pm and 3:56 pm at the residence.

It added that the operation was carried out in the presence of members of El-Rufai’s family, including his wife, Hadiza El-Rufai, and his son, Mohammed El-Rufai.

The Nigeria Police Force, in a counter-affidavit deposed to by Inspector Ewa Anthony, also maintained that the search was conducted pursuant to a lawful court order and in compliance with due process.

Both the ICPC and the police have asked the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the application seeks to obstruct an ongoing investigation.