A federal high court in Abuja has thrown out a suit filed by Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, in which he sought to block the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other government agencies from freezing his bank accounts or seizing his assets.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik dismissed the case on Thursday, ruling that it amounted to an abuse of court process.

The Cable reported that El-Rufai had dragged the ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) before the court as first to fourth respondents.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/368/2026, was filed on February 24 by his counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The judge found that el-Rufai had filed similar suits before both the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court, accepting the respondents’ argument that running parallel cases before courts of the same level created a risk of conflicting judgements.

Abdulmalik also held that a court could not be used to prevent law enforcement agencies from performing their statutory duties, and described the suit as speculative and lacking in merit. She struck out the names of the EFCC, DSS and AGF as respondents, finding that the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action against them.

The ICPC had asked the court to dismiss the case outright, arguing that el-Rufai fragmented a single, ongoing criminal investigation into three separate suits filed before two different courts within 12 days.

According to the commission, he filed one suit at the Federal High Court on February 20 challenging a search warrant, a second at the FCT High Court on March 3 challenging a remand order, and this third suit on February 24.

In the dismissed suit, the former governor asked the court to restrain all four respondents from freezing his accounts or seizing his assets while the substantive matter was being heard.

He argued that the severance pay he received after his governorship, which ran from 2015 to 2023, could not reasonably be considered proceeds of unlawful activity, and that properties purchased with those funds were lawfully owned.

Beyond the injunctions, el-Rufai sought N1 billion in general, exemplary and aggravated damages, citing psychological distress, anxiety and reputational harm he said would arise from any unlawful forfeiture proceedings. He also claimed N100 million in legal costs.

The AGF’s representative, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law, argued that an interim forfeiture order was not a final forfeiture order and that seeking one did not, on its own, violate el-Rufai’s rights, as the ICPC, EFCC and DSS were each legally empowered to apply to a competent court for such orders during investigations.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to take further measures to strengthen the naira, saying a stronger exchange rate would help reduce the pressure on petrol prices and the wider cost of living.

TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, made the demand on Wednesday in Abuja after a meeting of the union’s National Administrative Council (NAC). He said the exchange rate remained one of the major factors affecting the prices of fuel and other essential commodities in the country.

Osifo said the government should work towards moving the naira to between N700 and N800 to the dollar. He argued that the currency remained undervalued despite recent improvements in the foreign exchange market.

“We cannot be tired talking about exchange rate because it is central to literally everything. Today, the official rate is just a little above 1,300 Naira to the USD, but we see that government can still do better.”

He said a stronger naira would have an effect beyond the foreign exchange market.

According to him, it would also reduce the cost of petroleum products, food, fertiliser, equipment and other items that depend heavily on foreign exchange.

The TUC president also commended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, for measures aimed at stabilising the naira and improving macroeconomic conditions.

However, Osifo said the current exchange rate was still not satisfactory to the labour centre.

“We commend the CBN governor Cardoso for the great work that he is doing in the Central Bank, but we can still do much more because we still believe that 1300 Naira to $1 is still undervalued.”

He explained that the position of the union was not that the naira should be returned to the levels where it was considered overvalued.

Rather, he said the government should pursue policies that would allow the currency to trade at a stronger and more sustainable level.

“From all international commentators, from economic think-tanks, both local and international, from scholars, currently our Naira is undervalued and is not trading at the strength it should.

“Yes, we knew that before, when it was around N400, it was overvalued, but today at N1,300 it is still undervalued. So, government should do everything possible to move the Naira to the right value.”

Osifo linked the exchange rate directly to the continued pressure on Nigerians, particularly through the prices of petroleum products.

Petrol Station Price

TUC had previously argued that intervention in the foreign exchange market could help lower the cost of crude supplied to domestic refineries and, in turn, reduce petrol prices.

The union’s latest position comes as workers continue to deal with the effects of high living costs.

TUC said the government should therefore pay attention not only to broader economic indicators but also to the impact of economic policies on households and workers.

Osifo said some macroeconomic indicators were beginning to show signs of improvement, including inflation and exchange-rate stability.

He, however, maintained that the government needed to translate such improvements into tangible relief for Nigerians.

Many people are feared to have lost their lives as a military aircraft with tail number NGR 931, en route Lagos from Benin, crashed in the Igbokoda axis of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday.

The Ondo State Police Command Spokesperson, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Akure, noted that details surrounding the incident are still emerging, as efforts to establish the full circumstances continue.

Jimoh said: “The Command urges members of the public, particularly residents of Igbokoda and adjoining communities, to remain calm and refrain from circulating unverified information.”

He stated further that the public will be duly informed as soon as further credible information is available.‎

Also, a statement by the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, said that all efforts to raise the aircraft on radio proved abortive.

According to him, the wreckage has been located, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Preliminary information suggests that there were 25 passengers and 7 crew members on board.

“Whilst the control and regulation of military aircraft are completely outside the authority of the Ministry of Aviation, and Civil Aviation Authority, I have just spoken to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke and pledged our total cooperation and assistance in the search and rescue efforts ongoing”, Keyamo added.

The identity of the helicopter and the persons on board are yet to be ascertained as of the time of this report.