The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Jabi, Abuja, on Monday, dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Joel Adoga against the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), ruling that the anti-graft agency acted within the law during its investigation.
Adoga, who is standing trial alongside former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had alleged that the ICPC unlawfully detained him, denied him access to his family and legal representatives, and compelled him to make statements during the course of its investigation.
In the suit marked CV/1012/2026, Adoga sought declarations that his constitutional rights had been violated, as well as an order of habeas corpus, damages, and injunctions restraining the ICPC from investigating, detaining, or prosecuting him over the allegations.
The ICPC, however, denied the claims in its counter-affidavit, maintaining that Adoga was lawfully invited for questioning following a petition linking him to alleged corrupt practices and suspicious financial transactions involving Kaduna State government funds.
According to the commission, Adoga was granted administrative bail during the investigation and was only detained based on a valid remand order issued by a competent court. It added that criminal charges were subsequently filed against him before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, where he was arraigned and granted bail.
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The anti-corruption agency further argued that any continued detention resulted from Adoga’s inability to meet the bail conditions imposed by the trial court, not from any unlawful action by the commission.
It also insisted that he was never denied access to his family or lawyers and that all statements he made were voluntarily recorded under caution in the presence of his legal counsel.
Delivering judgment, Justice M.S. Idris held that Adoga failed to prove that the ICPC breached his fundamental rights and dismissed the suit in its entirety.
The court ruled that the commission conducted its investigation in accordance with the law and within the limits of its constitutional powers.
Adoga is currently facing a 10-count charge, alongside El-Rufai before the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
The ICPC alleges that between 2016 and 2023, El-Rufai received multiple deposits in United States dollars through his Guaranty Trust Bank domiciliary account, including $320,800 allegedly paid in tranches by Adoga, as well as other deposits investigators suspect were proceeds of unlawful activities.
The commission also accused Adoga of conspiring with the former governor in July 2019 to conceal the source of a $10,000 deposit into the account.
Reacting to the judgment, the ICPC said the ruling reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the rule of law, due process, and the protection of constitutional rights while carrying out its mandate to investigate and prosecute corruption-related offences.
