The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, Abuja, has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Joel Adoga, one of the defendants standing trial alongside former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, over alleged corruption-related offences, handing the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) a significant legal victory.
Adoga had approached the court in Suit No. CV/1012/2026, accusing the anti-corruption agency of violating his constitutional rights during its investigation. He alleged that the ICPC denied him access to his family and legal representatives while he was in custody and compelled him to make statements against his will.
He sought declarations that his fundamental rights had been breached, an order of habeas corpus, monetary compensation, and injunctions restraining the Commission from further investigating, detaining or prosecuting him over the allegations.
The ICPC, however, firmly denied the claims in a joint counter-affidavit, insisting that Adoga was lawfully invited for questioning following a petition and credible suspicion linking him to alleged corrupt practices and suspicious financial transactions involving the diversion of Kaduna State Government funds.
According to the Commission, Adoga was granted administrative bail during the investigation, while any subsequent detention was carried out pursuant to a valid remand order issued by a competent court.
The agency further stated that after concluding its investigation, Adoga was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, where he was admitted to bail. It maintained that any continued detention resulted solely from his inability to meet the bail conditions imposed by the trial court, not from any unlawful conduct by the Commission.
The ICPC also told the court that Adoga was never denied access to either his family or legal representatives, stressing that every statement he made during the investigation was obtained voluntarily, under caution, and in the presence of his chosen counsel.
Delivering judgment, Justice M.S. Idris held that Adoga failed to prove that the ICPC violated any of his constitutional rights. The court found no merit in the allegations against the anti-graft agency and dismissed the suit in its entirety, ruling that the Commission acted within the limits of the law throughout its investigation.
Adoga is currently facing a 10-count charge alongside El-Rufai before the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
According to the ICPC, the charges allege that between 2016 and 2023, El-Rufai received various sums of money in U.S. dollars through his domiciliary account with Guaranty Trust Bank, including $320,800 allegedly paid in instalments by Adoga, alongside deposits of $155,800, $305,300 and several smaller sums from different individuals, which investigators suspect were proceeds of unlawful activities.
The Commission further alleged that in July 2019, Adoga conspired with the former governor to conceal the origin of a $10,000 deposit made into the account.
Following the judgment, the ICPC reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the rule of law, due process and the constitutional rights of all persons while pursuing its mandate of investigating and prosecuting corruption-related offences.