Alleged wiretapping: Court dismisses El-Rufai’s N120m right enforcement suit against DSS, ICPC, others

Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has dismissed a N120 million fundamental rights suit filed by a former Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, against the Department of State Services (DSS) and three others.

The court dismissed the suit for ‘’lacking merit and substance'' as constituted by the plaintiff.

Justice Oriji also awarded the sum of N200,000 as costs to each of the respondents to be paid to them by the former governor.

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

The presiding judge held 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 with 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 (third respondent) violated his rights, the court upheld the DSS’s submission that it had a statutory mandate to maintain watchlist action 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 dismissed 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 NSA Act.

On whether the seizure of the applicant’s 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.