The Federal High Court in Abuja has allowed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to play selected portions of CCTV footage in former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s N10 billion suit, rejecting his request to have the more than six-hour recording played in full in open court.
Justice Chigozie Onah, in a ruling on separate applications by the ICPC and El-Rufai on Thursday, gave each side 20 minutes to play portions of the footage.
The judge said the court could not be turned into a viewing centre, adding that it did not have the time to watch a recording lasting more than six hours.
He also agreed with ICPC counsel, Yetunde Mosunmola, that playing the entire footage in open court could expose sensitive information about the commission’s facility and create security risks.
Justice Onah said the full recording, if necessary, could be viewed in his chambers.
The judge also rejected El-Rufai’s request to compel two ICPC officials who deposed to affidavits in the case to appear in court for cross-examination, explaining that fundamental rights cases are determined through affidavit evidence.
He declined to grant the other reliefs sought by the former governor and adjourned the matter until November 3, 2026, for the definite hearing of the substantive applications.
El-Rufai instituted the suit against the ICPC, its chairman, Musa Aliyu, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, seeking N10 billion in damages over the alleged denial of access to his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, while he was in the commission’s custody.
In the suit filed on August 13 through his lawyer, Ubong Akpan, the former governor asked the court to declare that his fundamental rights under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, remained enforceable despite his detention.
However, the ICPC and its chairman, in a joint counter-affidavit, disputed several claims in El-Rufai’s supporting affidavit.
The commission’s Chief Anti-Corruption Assistant in the Internal Security Support Unit, John Uche, said El-Rufai was being held lawfully under an order of the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
Uche also stated that on July 7, the commission facilitated a visit by El-Rufai’s wife and personal physician in compliance with a court order permitting access to his doctor.
He alleged that reports received after the hospital visit indicated that the medical trip had been turned into a political meeting in breach of the commission’s security protocols.
According to Uche, the ICPC subsequently introduced temporary access restrictions because it considered unrestricted visits a security risk until the reported vulnerability could be assessed and addressed.