The family of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has accused the ICPC of violating an explicit court order by blocking his personal physician from conducting a medical visitation and turning away his wife when she brought him food.
The family of the embattled former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) of deliberately violating a court order by denying him access to essential healthcare and family care. In separate statements issued on Friday, May 15, 2026, the former governor’s wife, Aichatou El-Rufai, and his son, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, expressed outrage over what they described as arbitrary restrictions placed on the political figure. El-Rufai, who has been held in anti-graft custody since February 19, 2026, over a nine-count charge bordering on a N423 billion fraud and abuse of office saga during his tenure, was allegedly subjected to a double assault on his constitutional rights at the agency’s detention facility.
According to his family, El-Rufai’s personal physician visited the ICPC headquarters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent medical test results but was abruptly barred from seeing his patient. Operatives reportedly insisted that the medical expert could not gain entry without a written authorization letter directly signed by the commission’s chairman. “Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s doctor was at the ICPC today to follow up on medical tests recently taken by his patient. The doctor was prevented from seeing him by operatives who insisted that the doctor must present written approval by their chairman. This is a brazen violation of an explicit court order that Mallam Nasir @elrufai must be allowed unfettered access to his medical doctors,” Aichatou El-Rufai stated. She added that she faced similar hostility later that evening when she attempted to deliver dinner: “In addition, I, his wife, brought his dinner as usual at about 7pm today, 15 May 2026. ICPC officials also denied me access, saying that they would not accept delivery of dinner after 6:30pm. This is just as bad as denying his right to medical visitation and we will not stand for it.”
Condemning the commission’s enforcement of an internal curfew, the former governor’s son, Bello El-Rufai—who serves as a federal lawmaker representing the Kaduna North Constituency—characterized the protocols as an illegal intimidation tactic disguised as official procedure. The public outcry from the family aligns with a broader political pushback, including a demand made on Friday by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to release the politician on bail before the upcoming Eid al-Kabir holidays to prevent the weaponization of state power against opposition figures. “Today, 15 May 2026, we witnessed two distinct yet equally serious attacks on his basic rights,” Bello El-Rufai remarked, asserting that no legal detention framework justifies cutting off basic medical consultation or familial sustenance under the guise of bureaucratic protocol.
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