The African Democratic Congress has criticised the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over the arrest of a former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s personal physician, alleging that the anti-graft agency also assaulted the ex-governor’s wife during a hospital visit.

The party, in a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused the ICPC of denying El-Rufai access to proper medical care and violating his constitutional rights.

According to the ADC, El-Rufai was taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, for medical treatment, where doctors allegedly recommended his admission because of his health condition.

The party claimed that ICPC officials insisted on returning him to custody despite the recommendation, adding that protests by his wife and personal physician led to a confrontation.

“Information reaching us is that El-Rufai was billed for treatment at the National Hospital in Abuja today. But 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,” the statement said.

The ADC alleged that the ICPC’s actions had gone beyond law enforcement and amounted to political persecution.

“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.

“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 of the courts, which granted him unfettered access to his lawyers, physician and family members.

“Such conduct belongs to authoritarian regimes that use state institutions to break political opponents rather than to uphold justice,” the party stated.

The opposition party said the development was no longer only about El-Rufai but about the protection of constitutional democracy and the rule of law.

The ADC also called on the ICPC to explain the circumstances surrounding the alleged denial of access to El-Rufai’s family and physician.

“The ICPC owes Nigerians immediate explanations. On whose authority was access to his family denied? Why has access to his doctor been refused desp”te concerns about his health? What legal basis exists for these actions? Why were El-Rufai’s wife and doctor assaulted by the ICPC operatives?” it asked.

The party further accused President Tinubu of allowing anti-corruption agencies to be used for political intimidation, insisting that responsibility ultimately rested with the President.

It demanded unrestricted access for El-Rufai to his family, lawyers and personal doctors, a review of his bail conditions, an end to what it described as degrading detention conditions, compliance with constitutional safeguards and greater transparency from the ICPC.

The statement came barely an hour after the ICPC announced the arrest of El-Rufai’s personal physician, Prof. Bello Abubakar, for allegedly making false statements and accused the former governor of abusing a court-approved medical visit by holding a meeting with political associates instead of undergoing medical consultation.

ICPC accuses El-Rufai of breaching medical visit, arrests personal doctor.

The commission also said it would bring the alleged violation of the court order to the attention of the court. (The PUNCH)

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