The media adviser to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Muyiwa Adekeye, has accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission of denying his principal access to medical attention despite a court order obtained by his lawyers enabling him to visit his doctors, as the former governor’s eyes became visibly swollen, reddish, and itchy while in the commission’s custody.

In a statement, Adekeye said El-Rufai had been taken to an eye clinic on June 4 but that his condition had deteriorated overnight, alarming family members who visited him. He said El-Rufai’s family drew the attention of ICPC operatives to his condition and his request to see a doctor, and that two officials visibly confirmed the state of his eyes, but that no medical attention was arranged.

He alleged that one ICPC official, identified only as Henry and believed to have been seconded to the commission from another agency, subsequently falsely informed a family member that El-Rufai did not wish to see a doctor, a claim the family member vigorously disputed. Adekeye said this was not the first time ICPC officials had attributed statements to El-Rufai that he had not made.

He said El-Rufai’s persistent eye problems while in custody had led his counsel to obtain a court order enabling access to doctors and medical treatment, but that the ICPC was continuing to treat him as though he had no rights and was undeserving of a duty of care while in their custody. He said no government agency was permitted to be indifferent to the medical condition of a person in its custody and that the commission must respect human rights, obey court orders, and allow access to required medical treatment.

The former governor’s family had raised similar complaints in May, including allegations that the commission had prevented his personal doctor from seeing him, insisting that written approval from the ICPC chairman was required before the doctor could access the facility.