The Federal High Court in Abuja has approved the playing of selected Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage tendered by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in a N10bn fundamental rights suit filed by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Justice Chigozie Onah, in a ruling on applications filed by both parties on Thursday, declined El-Rufai’s request for the complete footage, which runs for more than six hours, to be played in open court.
Instead, the judge directed each side to select portions of the recordings to be played for 20 minutes each, ruling that the court could not be turned into a viewing centre.
He also agreed with the ICPC’s argument that the recordings contained sensitive information which could expose its facility to security risks if the entire footage were shown publicly. The judge said a full viewing, if necessary, could take place in his chambers.
Justice Onah also rejected El-Rufai’s request for two ICPC officials who submitted affidavits in the case to appear for cross-examination. He held that fundamental rights enforcement cases are determined through affidavit evidence and declined the other reliefs sought by the former governor.
The court adjourned the matter until November 3 at 1pm for the hearing of the substantive applications.
El-Rufai instituted the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1852/2026, against the ICPC, its chairman, Musa Aliyu, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, seeking N10bn in damages over alleged restrictions on access to his wife, Aichatou Asabe, and son, Abba El-Rufai, while in the commission’s custody.
In his application, filed on August 13, the former governor asked the court to affirm that his fundamental rights under the 1999 Constitution, as amended, remained enforceable despite his detention.
The ICPC and its chairman opposed the claims in a joint counter-affidavit deposed to by John Uche, a Chief Anti-Corruption Assistant in the commission’s Internal Security Support Unit. They described several paragraphs of El-Rufai’s affidavit as false and maintained that he was being held under an order of the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
Uche said the commission facilitated a visit to El-Rufai’s personal physician on July 7 in compliance with a court order. According to him, the visit was accompanied by ICPC officers and El-Rufai’s wife, Asabe.
He alleged that reports received after the visit indicated that it had been turned into a political meeting in violation of security protocols. He said the commission subsequently restricted non-essential access while reviewing its security arrangements.
Uche also alleged that El-Rufai’s son, Abba, was denied entry when he came to visit his father on July 7 and later lay in a gutter, repeatedly rubbing his leg against its edge.
The ICPC official further alleged that Asabe was brought into the commission’s premises after visiting hours on July 4, with the assistance of some officers who were subsequently subjected to disciplinary action. He said her visiting access was temporarily suspended because of what the commission considered security risks.
The commission relied on CCTV recordings as part of its defence and asked the court to allow it to play relevant sections of the footage contained in a USB storage device attached to its counter-affidavit as Exhibit ICPC B.
The recordings were divided into three segments, described by the commission as “The Scuffle,” “The Son Being Taken Away” and “Unauthorised Entry.”
However, in a separate application filed on September 9, El-Rufai asked the court to order the production of the complete, unedited recordings covering June 7, July 4 and July 7, as well as visitor registers and entry and exit records relating to visits by his family.
He also sought permission to question Sadiq Baba, who certified the footage, and Uche about how the clips were selected, copied and certified, as well as whether additional recordings existed and why they had not been produced.
El-Rufai argued that the three clips submitted by the commission did not establish that they represented all the recordings made during the relevant periods.
He further alleged that omitted sections of the July 7 footage showed his son being dragged, with his leg trapped in a gutter, and an officer falling near a ditch. He contended that these images contradicted the account in the ICPC’s counter-affidavit.
The former governor also argued that footage from June 7 would show that the ICPC chairman invited his wife onto the premises on the first night of his detention, while the July 4 recording was necessary to test the allegation that she had been smuggled into the facility.
Citing Section 36(3) of the Constitution, the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, and Section 167(d) of the Evidence Act, 2011, El-Rufai urged the court to allow the footage to be played publicly and to presume that any withheld evidence would be unfavourable to the commission.
The ICPC opposed the request, arguing that displaying the complete recordings in open court could expose sensitive security information. It maintained that if the judge considered a full viewing necessary, it could be conducted in chambers.
The court’s ruling therefore limits the footage to be played in open court to selected portions, with each party given 20 minutes to present its chosen clips.
