According to a report by the Daily Post on Thursday, March 12, 2026, a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) permission to access and examine electronic devices recovered from the residence of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik approved the request after considering an ex-parte motion filed by ICPC counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha. The application sought authorization for investigators to inspect the devices, carry out forensic analysis, and retrieve data as part of an ongoing probe involving the former governor.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, operatives of the commission recovered 14 electronic devices during the operation at El-Rufai’s Abuja residence. The items include several storage drives such as Sony HD-EGS, ITB Transcend, Toshiba, Samsung storage devices, a Seagate FreeAgent external drive, ten flash drives and a microSD card, as well as multiple mobile phones including Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry, ZTE, and a Google IDEOS device. Other items listed were a Remarkable tablet and an Apple MacBook Pro.
The application forms part of a case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/499/2026, titled Federal Republic of Nigeria vs. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai. At the same time, the former governor has filed a separate suit challenging the search conducted at his home, demanding N1 billion in damages and claiming the operation breached his constitutional rights.
In the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed on February 20 by his lawyer, Oluwole Iyamu, El-Rufai argued that the search carried out on February 19 at his residence on Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja violated his rights to dignity, liberty, fair hearing, and privacy as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution. He also asked the court to declare any evidence obtained from the raid inadmissible and to order the immediate return of the seized items.
However, the ICPC insisted that its actions were lawful, noting that the operation was carried out with a court-issued warrant and in the presence of El-Rufai’s family members. In its response, the commission stated that “the search followed a valid warrant issued on February 18,” explaining that the operation took place on February 19 with the support of the Nigeria Police Force while El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza, and his son, Mohammed, witnessed the exercise.