The Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna State has issued an interim order restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting a Dubai-based Nigerian merchant, Alhaji Rabiu Auwalu Tijjani.
Tijjani had been recently declared wanted by the agency over alleged involvement in a $1.9million money laundering case.
But the ruling, delivered by Justice H. Buhari on Monday, came in response to an ex parte motion filed by Tijjani’s legal counsel on July 16, 2025.
The businessman, through his lawyers, sought the court’s protection of his fundamental rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement, as guaranteed under Sections 35 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution.
The EFCC and one Mr. Ifeanyi Ezeokoli were named as respondents in the matter.
Justice Buhari, after reviewing the motion and accompanying affidavit, granted an order barring the EFCC from “inviting, arresting, detaining, harassing, or prosecuting” Alhaji Tijjani until the hearing and determination of the substantive case, now set for September 18, 2025.
This legal twist follows the EFCC’s publication on July 11, 2025, listing Tijjani as wanted for alleged conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, and laundering $1,931,700.
His photo and details were prominently displayed on the agency’s official website.
However, in a counter-narrative presented through a sworn affidavit, Tijjani’s lawyer, Muhammad Zakariyya Dikko, argued that the EFCC’s move was unjustified and malicious.
He said the accusations stemmed from a commercial dispute between Tijjani and Ezeokoli, not criminal conduct.
According to the affidavit, Tijjani entered a business deal with Ezeokoli in January 2022 involving the exchange of $76 million in Dubai for its naira equivalent in Nigeria.
Following reconciliation, Tijjani said he refunded ₦26 million to Ezeokoli, believing it was an overpayment.
But he later discovered that a clerical error had led to him overpaying Ezeokoli by more than $2 million due to duplicate entries.
Tijjani, widely known in international gold trading circles and the first Nigerian licensed to establish a gold refinery in the country, maintains that the EFCC’s actions have severely damaged his reputation and threatened the progress of his refinery project in Abuja.
The court’s order provides a temporary reprieve for the embattled businessman, setting the stage for a legal face-off in September that could determine whether the EFCC overstepped its bounds or acted within its statutory powers.
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