El-Rufai Loses N120m Right Enforcement Suit Against DSS, EFCC, Others

Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has dismissed a fundamental rights suit filed by a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai.

El-Rufai had sued the Department of State Services (DSS and three others, alleging infringement of his fundamental rights.

Justice Oriji, in a judgement yesterday, dismissed the suit for being without merit and substance as constituted by the plaintiff.

Others dragged before the court were the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)

The judge awarded N200,000 as costs to each of the respondents, to be paid by the former governor.

The court held that the letters of invitation by the two federal agencies to El-Rufai to appear for investigation over allegations against him met constitutional requirements and did not in any way constitute infringement on his fundamental rights.

Specifically, Justice Oriji said that both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) did not violate the applicant’s rights in the letters inviting him to shed light on issues raised against him.

On whether the attempt to arrest the applicant at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, by the DSS (3rd respondent) violated his rights, the Court upheld the DSS’s submission that it had a statutory mandate to maintain a watchlist and arrest persons of interest.

The court further held that El-Rufai cannot use the court to stop the agencies from performing their duties.

Justice Oriji discounted El-Rufai’s argument that there was no warrant for his attempted arrest and ruled that DSS had inherent powers of the police pursuant to the SSS Instrument and the NSA Act.

On whether the seizure of the applicant’s international passport by the DSS was a violation of his rights, the Court held that it was satisfied that the seizure was lawful and pursuant to the powers of the DSS and thus the applicant had failed to adduce evidence showing that the seizure was continuous, permanent and unlawful.

While dismissing the entire suit for lack of merit, the court awarded N200,000 to each of the four respondents, including the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice (AGF).