Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has denied allegations of abuse of a court-approved medical visit while in custody by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing the anti-graft agency of misrepresenting the facts and the law regarding the incident.
The former governor also demanded the immediate release of his personal physician, Professor Bello Abubakar and urged the ICPC to withdraw its allegation that he violated a court order.
El-Rufai’s media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye made the demands in a statement on Wednesday in response to the ICPC’s July 7 statement titled, “El-Rufai and Medical Doctor Abuse Privilege, Violate Court Order.
The commission’s account was not accurate, Adekeye said, as El-Rufai’s failure to appear in court on July 6 was due to an unresolved medical condition that was brought to the attention of the ICPC before the scheduled court proceedings.
The statement said that the personal physician to El-Rufai had earlier tried to examine the former governor at the ICPC facility after discussing with the commission’s doctor.
It claimed that Abubakar was denied access to his patient despite waiting for over two hours.
The statement said the family of El-Rufai later wrote to the ICPC to take him to the National Hospital, Abuja to see his physician on July 7.
It insisted the request was made before the family was informed of El-Rufai’s scheduled court appearance on July 6.
“It was against this background – an unmet medical need, a recorded denial of access to his physician a week earlier and the continued ill health of Malam El-Rufai – that the planned trip to Kaduna on 6th July became untenable. He did not travel on that day for that reason,” the statement said.
El-Rufai’s camp also refuted the ICPC’s claim that the former governor had no immediate medical complaints and that he only sought access to his doctor after a request by his wife.
Adekeye rejected the commission’s account as false, saying the medical consultation was not invented to keep El-Rufai from appearing in court.
“The suggestion that he had ‘no immediate medical complaints’ on 6th July, or that the request to see his doctor was fabricated to avoid court, is therefore untrue,” he said.
The statement maintained that El-Rufai’s medical condition had not been resolved before the scheduled journey to Kaduna for the court proceedings.
Adekeye also faulted the allegation by the ICPC that El-Rufai disobeyed a court order in visiting the hospital.
In his words, the order that applied was made on April 1, 2026, by Justice R.M. Aikawa in Charge No. FHC/KD/73C/2026.
He said the order ensured the former governor would receive medical care while in custody and did not limit who could visit him during a medical appointment.
He said the court order “does not regulate, restrict or impose conditions upon who may see or be seen by him while that access is being exercised.
El-Rufai’s camp argued that nothing in the order was violated during the hospital visit.
The media team of the former governor also disputed the commission’s characterization of the hospital visit as a political gathering.
Adekeye claimed the ICPC had rescheduled the medical appointment from 5pm to 10am, a time when the hospital was busier and did not inform El-Rufai’s family of the change until the morning of the visit.
“It was the Commission that shifted the appointment from a quiet 5:00pm slot to a high traffic 10:00am slot… and it was the Commission’s own personnel who were stationed at the scene throughout,” the statement said.
The former governor’s camp said the events that took place did not align with the commission’s claim that the medical visit was used to organise a political meeting.
Adekeye also condemned the arrest of El-Rufai’s personal physician, Abubakar, and called for the ICPC to make public the alleged false statement for which the medical practitioner was arrested.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of professor Abubakar, pending the ICPC’s disclosure of the specific allegation against him,” the statement read.
El-Rufai’s camp said that medical treatment was a legal right, not a privilege.
The statement cited the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, otherwise known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, as well as the subsisting court order, in support of its position.
It warned that any move by the ICPC to deny El-Rufai access to medical care, his family or legal representatives could be seen as contempt of court.
“The chronology does not support the conclusion that the medical appointment was used to stage a political meeting,” the statement concluded.
