The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission of denying former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai access to medical care, arresting his personal physician and assaulting his wife during a hospital visit in Abuja.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party described the alleged actions of the anti-graft agency as a violation of constitutional rights and an abuse of due process.
According to the ADC, El-Rufai was scheduled to receive medical treatment at the National Hospital Abuja. The party claimed that despite medical advice recommending his admission due to deteriorating health, ICPC officials insisted on returning him to custody.
The party further alleged that a confrontation ensued after El-Rufai’s wife and personal physician protested the decision, during which his wife was physically assaulted and the physician arrested by operatives of the commission.
The ADC argued that the actions of the ICPC had gone beyond law enforcement and amounted to political persecution.
It alleged that El-Rufai was being treated as a political prisoner and accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of using anti-corruption agencies to intimidate political opponents.
The party maintained that no democratic government should deny a detainee access to medical care or prevent unrestricted access to family members, lawyers and personal physicians, particularly where court orders permit such access.
The ADC also questioned the legal basis for the alleged restrictions placed on El-Rufai, demanding that the ICPC explain why access to his family and doctor was reportedly denied and clarify the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault on his wife and the arrest of his physician.
The party called for an urgent review of what it described as harsh and punitive bail conditions imposed on the former governor, insisting that bail should serve only to guarantee attendance at trial rather than punish an accused person before conviction.
Among its demands, the ADC called for unrestricted access for El-Rufai to his family, legal team and medical practitioners, full compliance with constitutional and international standards governing the treatment of detainees, greater transparency from the ICPC on all restrictions imposed on him, and an end to what it described as the use of state institutions for political intimidation.
The ICPC had yet to respond publicly to the latest allegations at the time of filing this report.
