ADC, ICPC Trade Claims Over El-Rufai’s Health
A fresh dispute has broken out over the welfare of former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, with the African Democratic Congress and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission offering sharply conflicting accounts of a hospital visit that has now become the latest flashpoint in one of the most closely watched corruption trials of the year.
The ADC alleges that the anti-graft agency denied El-Rufai adequate medical care and violated his rights while in custody. The ICPC, on its part, insists the former governor turned a court-sanctioned medical visit into an opportunity for activities the court never approved. Both positions were made public through separate statements, leaving the public to weigh two irreconcilable versions of the same episode.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party said El-Rufai was taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, where doctors recommended admission on account of his failing health, only for ICPC officials to overrule the advice and return him to custody. The party claimed the intervention triggered a confrontation. “Against the hospital’s advice that he would require hospitalisation in view of his failing health, officials of the ICPC insisted on returning him into custody. Protests by his personal physician and his wife led to scuffles during which his wife was assaulted and the doctor subsequently arrested,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC framed the episode as a breach of constitutional rights, due process and human dignity, and went further to hold President Bola Tinubu directly responsible for El-Rufai’s continued detention. “The world should know today that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is holding a political prisoner in Nigeria by the name of Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai,” Abdullahi declared.
The ICPC rejected that account outright. In a statement by its spokesperson, John Odey, the Commission said the Kaduna State High Court had set aside July 6, 7 and 8 for accelerated hearing of the criminal charges, but that proceedings stalled after El-Rufai declined to leave custody for court, insisting first on seeing his personal physician. The agency said no prior request had been made for the consultation, and that when its own medical doctor questioned him, El-Rufai reportedly said he had no immediate complaints but wished to see his physician at the request of his wife, Asia El-Rufai, who is also one of his lawyers.
According to the Commission, the visit to the private wing of the National Hospital went ahead in line with the court’s directives, with its personnel waiting outside while an oncologist examined him. Trouble followed, it said, after photographs surfaced on Facebook showing El-Rufai with his physician, Professor Bello Abubakar, and three others. The images were reportedly posted by a political associate, Isa Kudan, who said they had just held a meeting with the former governor. “The images and post by Isa Kudan indicated that the arranged medical visit was utilised for activities outside the scope contemplated by the court and the ICPC. This is a clear violation of the court order,” the Commission stated. It said the development led to the arrest of Professor Abubakar for allegedly making false statements.
The clash is the newest twist in a case that has run through the courts since early in the year. The ICPC arrested El-Rufai on February 18, 2026, and after 34 days in custody first arraigned him on March 24 at the Federal High Court in Kaduna. A parallel prosecution followed at the Kaduna State High Court, where he was arraigned alongside Amadu Sule, Managing Director of TMDK Terminal Limited. The Commission initially filed a 10-count charge before amending it to a nine-count charge and withdrawing Sule, leaving El-Rufai as sole defendant on allegations bordering on abuse of office, fraud, money laundering-related offences and conferring undue advantage. Court filings tie the charges to his tenure between 2015 and 2023, including a contested severance payment said to far exceed the approved amount and a series of foreign currency deposits the agency describes as suspicious. He has pleaded not guilty.
On June 29, Justice Dirisu Khobo refused El-Rufai’s bail application, holding that it lacked merit and that the defence had failed to establish exceptional circumstances. The judge nonetheless ordered the ICPC to grant him unrestricted access to his medical team or any facility of his choice within Nigeria, an order that now sits at the centre of the current dispute. According to the ICPC, the court has adjourned proceedings to July 15 to hear El-Rufai’s application seeking the recusal of the trial judge and to await a directive from the Kaduna State Chief Judge on a pending request to transfer the case.
For a figure who remains an influential voice in opposition politics, the detention has carried unmistakable political weight, and the competing narratives around his health and treatment are likely to sharpen ahead of the next hearing.