ADC accused ICPC of assaulting El-Rufai’s wife, arresting the doctor during a hospital visit

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) of violating the rights of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, following the arrest of his personal doctor and alleged assault on his wife during a visit to a hospital in Abuja.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC condemned the way the anti-corruption agency handled El-Rufai’s medical visit, alleging that officials ignored medical advice recommending that he be admitted to the National Hospital, Abuja, and instead insisted on returning him to custody.

According to the opposition, the incident escalated after El-Rufai’s wife and his personal doctor objected to the decision.

“The information we received was that El-Rufai was billed for treatment at the National Hospital in Abuja today. However, contrary to the hospital’s advice that he required hospitalization due to his declining health, ICPC officials insisted on returning him to custody. Protests from his personal doctor and his wife led to a fight in which his wife was attacked and the doctor was subsequently arrested,” the statement said.

ADC argued that the events surrounding the hospital visit reflected a pattern of political persecution rather than legitimate law enforcement, and alleged that the former governor was being treated as a political prisoner.

“The world should know today that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is holding a political prisoner in Nigeria named Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai.

“No democratic government that claims to respect the rule of law should deny a detainee access to medical care or prevent close family members from seeing him in flagrant disobedience to the courts, which grant him unfettered access to his lawyers, doctors and family members.

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“Such behavior is carried out by authoritarian regimes that use state institutions to crush their political opponents rather than to uphold justice,” the party said.

The party stated that the controversy had grown beyond the conditions of El-Rufai’s detention, and described it as a broader issue of constitutional democracy, civil liberties and respect for the rule of law.

The report also challenges the ICPC to publicly clarify the circumstances surrounding alleged restrictions on access to the former governor’s family and doctors, as well as reports of confrontations at hospitals.

“ICPC must immediately provide an explanation to Nigerians. On whose authority was access to his family denied? Why was access to a doctor denied despite concerns about his health? What is the legal basis for this action? Why were El-Rufai’s wife and doctor attacked by ICPC agents?” ADC asked.

The opposition party further alleged that anti-corruption agencies were deployed to intimidate political opponents, and stressed that the ultimate responsibility lies with President Bola Tinubu. The resolution calls for unrestricted access for El-Rufai to his family, lawyer and personal doctor, a review of his bail conditions, improved detention conditions, strict adherence to constitutional protections and greater transparency from the ICPC.

The ADC’s statement came less than an hour after the ICPC announced the arrest of El-Rufai’s personal doctor, Prof. Bello Abubakar, for accusing him of making false statements. The commission also accused El-Rufai of violating the terms of a court-approved medical visit by meeting with political associates instead of undergoing medical consultations.

The Corruption Eradication Commission stated that it would report the alleged violation of the court order to the court for further action.