•Nasir El-Rufai and ICPC operative
The family of the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has rubbished claims that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) found phone-tapping equipment during a raid on his home.
The family lamented that the Commission has descended into what can only be described as a circus of chicanery, apparently designed to prosecute a media war rather than adhere to the rule of law, reports The Guardian.
In a statement signed by his son, who represents Kaduna North Federal Constituency, Hon. Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, the family accused the ICPC of weaponising El-Rufai’s silence against him, claiming he “refused to cooperate.”
“We must educate the Commission on the most basic tenet of Nigerian jurisprudence: The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees every citizen the right to remain silent. This is not an act of non-cooperation; it is a fundamental human right. No law enforcement agency, regardless of its frustration at a failed operation, is entitled to draw any negative inference from a citizen’s decision to exercise this constitutional hermetic seal.
“That the ICPC believes silence implies guilt is a confession of their own inquisitorial mindset and their disregard for the very laws they are sworn to uphold.
“Our father, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has said in all interactions with law enforcement: ‘CHARGE ME, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST ME. YOU HAVE HAD MORE THAN 2 YEARS TO INVESTIGATE ME. TAKE ME TO COURT PLEASE.’ This challenge cannot be met. It is the reason for these lies and obfuscation by ICPC,” the family said.
Regarding the phone-tapping equipment and other items reportedly seized by the ICPC, the family stated that the claim was intended to conjure images of espionage and criminality.
“This list is a work of fiction, for reasons which will soon become known,” the family said, adding that the list has not been endorsed by El-Rufai or his legal representatives.
The family stated that members were present when items were seized from the former governor. They emphasised that no equipment other than old, discarded personal mobile phones, some dating back as far as 20 years, and storage devices like flash drives and laptops, which are standard possessions of any 21st-century citizen, was seized from the property. They said the alleged “sophisticated tapping equipment” and “sensitive security documents” exist only in the fevered imagination of the ICPC and its press team.
El-Rufai’s family said the entire foundation of the investigation against him is rotten, noting that the search that purportedly uncovered these phantom items originated from a legally defective warrant.
“We have credible evidence that the warrant was a forgery, fraudulently procured and presented by a Magistrate who was, bizarrely, purporting to sit in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory. An illegality of this magnitude — a forgery at the very inception of a state-sponsored search — renders everything that follows it inadmissible and void. Our lawyers have challenged this illegitimate warrant in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The ICPC is welcome to explain in court how a Magistrate conjured the jurisdiction of a High Court to sign a warrant based on false premises,” the family said.
They said the ICPC’s statement is a textbook example of projection, the guilty person ascribing his crimes to his victim.
“It is a document riddled with the very offences it is meant to combat. We see before us a litany of forgery, uttering of false documents, and the peddling of falsehood that is nothing short of criminal. This level of unprofessional conduct, abuse of office, and sheer chicanery is the hallmark of an organisation that has been completely captured and weaponised. It is an organisation so bereft of any redeeming feature of credibility that it must now manufacture evidence to justify its existence.
“We will not be tried in the court of public opinion by a discredited agency acting on behalf of political masters. We have instructed our legal team to pursue all available legal remedies to challenge the illegal search, the forged warrant, and the defamatory statements made by the ICPC. We have absolute faith that the Nigerian judiciary will see through this shameful charade and uphold the rights of our family against this executive overreach.
“It would not surprise us if the ICPC were to produce something of that nature in furtherance of its descent into infamy. After all a court of law has already lampooned ICPC in another matter, of procuring fake search warrants,” the family said.
