The Federal Capital Territory High Court, Jabi, has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Mr. Joel Adoga, a co-defendant in the ongoing corruption trial involving former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, ruling that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) did not violate his constitutional rights during its investigation.
According to an official statement by the Head of Media and Public Communications at the ICPC, Mr. J. Okor Odey, the judgment marks a significant legal victory for the anti-corruption agency in the suit instituted by Mr. Adoga before the FCT High Court in Suit No. CV/1012/2026.
Mr. Adoga had alleged that the Commission unlawfully detained him, denied him access to his family and legal representatives, and compelled him to make statements during the course of its investigation. He sought several reliefs, including declarations that his fundamental rights had been breached, an order of habeas corpus, damages, and injunctions restraining the ICPC from further investigating, detaining or prosecuting him over the matter.
In response, the ICPC denied all allegations, maintaining that Mr. Adoga was lawfully invited for questioning following a petition and reasonable suspicion of his involvement in corrupt practices and suspicious financial transactions linked to the alleged diversion of Kaduna State Government funds.
The Commission stated that Mr. Adoga was granted administrative bail during the investigation and that any subsequent detention was based on a valid remand order issued by a competent court. It added that after concluding its investigation, he was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, where he was granted bail. According to the Commission, any continued detention resulted from his inability to meet the bail conditions imposed by the trial court, rather than any action by the ICPC.
The anti-corruption agency further informed the court that Mr. Adoga was never denied access to his family or legal representatives and that all statements he made during the investigation were given voluntarily under caution and in the presence of his chosen legal counsel.
Mr. Adoga is standing trial alongside Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai on a 10-count charge before the Federal High Court, Kaduna. The charges include allegations that between 2016 and 2023, the former governor allegedly received various sums in United States dollars through his domiciliary account with Guaranty Trust Bank, including $320,800 allegedly paid in tranches by Mr. Adoga, alongside other deposits amounting to $155,800, $305,300 and several smaller sums from different individuals, all reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The charges also allege that Mr. Adoga conspired with the former governor in July 2019 to disguise the origin of a $10,000 deposit into the account.
Delivering judgment, Honourable Justice M.S. Idris held that Mr. Adoga failed to establish any violation of his fundamental rights by the ICPC. The court found no merit in the allegations and dismissed the suit in its entirety, affirming that the Commission acted within the bounds of the law.
The ICPC said the judgment reinforces its commitment to upholding the rule of law, respecting constitutional rights and ensuring due process while carrying out its statutory mandate of investigating and prosecuting corruption-related offences in Nigeria.
