Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has denied allegations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that he abused a court-approved medical visit while in custody, insisting that the anti-graft agency misrepresented both the facts and the law surrounding the incident.
In a statement issued on Wednesday on behalf of the former governor, his media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, described the ICPC’s July 7 statement, titled “El-Rufai and Medical Doctor Abuse Privilege, Violate Court Order,” as inaccurate and called on the commission to retract its claims.
According to the statement, El-Rufai’s absence from court on July 6 resulted from an unresolved medical condition that had been brought to the ICPC’s attention before the court sitting.
The statement said El-Rufai’s personal physician, Professor Bello Abubakar, had earlier sought to examine him at the ICPC facility after first consulting with the commission’s doctor but was allegedly prevented from seeing his patient despite waiting for more than two hours.
It added that El-Rufai’s family subsequently wrote to request that he be taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, for a consultation with the physician on July 7, stressing that the request predated notification of the July 6 court appearance.
