Abuja – The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly condemned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations that its officials denied former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai access to medical treatment, assaulted his wife, and arrested his personal physician.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the incident as part of a pattern of political persecution by the Tinubu administration, claiming that El-Rufai is being held as a “political prisoner”.
According to the party, El-Rufai had been scheduled for treatment at the National Hospital in Abuja today. However, despite the hospital advising hospitalisation due to his deteriorating health, ICPC officials reportedly insisted on returning him to 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 argued that the actions of the ICPC have “gone beyond the realm of law enforcement” and now constitute “an assault on the Constitution of 200 million Nigerians, on human dignity, and on the most basic principles of justice and human rights”.
It further claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government is acting in “flagrant disobedience” of court orders granting El-Rufai 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,” Mr Abdullahi said. “This is no longer about Mallam El-Rufai alone. It is about whether Nigeria remains a constitutional democracy or has descended into a republic where law enforcement agencies have become instruments of political persecution.”
The party warned that the treatment of El-Rufai sets a dangerous precedent: “Today it is El-Rufai. Tomorrow it could be any Nigerian whose only offence is to disagree with those who wield power.”
The ADC demanded immediate explanations from the ICPC on several issues, including the authority under which access to El-Rufai’s family was denied, the refusal of medical access despite health concerns, the legal basis for the actions, and the reported assault on his wife and doctor.
It also called on President Tinubu to take responsibility, stating that “under our Constitution, the buck stops with the President”.
The party issued six specific demands:
- Immediate and unrestricted access for Mallam El-Rufai to his wife, children, legal team, and personal medical practitioners.
- An urgent review of the punitive and disproportionate bail conditions imposed on him.
- An immediate end to the harsh, degrading and unnecessarily restrictive conditions under which he is being held.
- Full compliance with all constitutional guarantees and internationally recognised standards governing the treatment of persons in custody.
- Complete transparency from the ICPC regarding the legal and factual basis for every restriction imposed on him.
- An immediate end to the use of state institutions as instruments of political intimidation, vendetta and selective justice.
The ICPC and the presidency have not yet responded to the allegations. El-Rufai’s current situation stems from ongoing investigations related to his time as governor of Kaduna State.
The developments come amid heightened political tensions in Nigeria, with opposition figures raising concerns about the use of anti-corruption agencies in what they describe as selective justice.
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