The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has debunked the allegations circulating in the media that it denied family members and medical personnel access to former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
A woman, who claimed to be El-Rufai’s wife had raised the alarm on Friday that the ICPC was denying access to the former governor, while his family members had also alleged that the former FCT minister has been denied access to medical doctors.
Reacting to the allegations, the ICPC said the claims were misleading and a deliberate attempt to dramatise lawful institutional procedures.
The spokesperson for the ICPC, John Okor Odey, who briefed journalists on the development in Abuja yesterday, said the commission was compelled to address what he described as “misleading narratives” arising from a widely circulated Hausa-language video interview aired across several media platforms.
He stated that “the woman featured in the video, who identified herself as the wife of the detained former governor, had alleged that operatives of the commission denied her entry into the premises at about 7:00 pm on Friday, 15th May, 2026, when she attempted to deliver food to her husband. She also claimed that the ICPC violated a court order granting family access to the defendant and prevented him from receiving food.”
Odey explained that “the ICPC’s Access Control Protocol, which permits visitor access between 9:00 am and 6:30 pm, is a longstanding institutional policy that predates the tenure of the current chairman and applies uniformly to all individuals in custody. Families of all defendants and suspects held by the commission, including the family of Malam El-Rufai, had previously been informed of the protocol and had complied with it without incident.”
He also disclosed that on the day in question, one of the defendant’s wives alongside a housemaid was granted access on at least three separate occasions between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm to deliver food to him.
The ICPC spokesperson noted that authorised visitors, including family members, legal representatives and medical personnel, are routinely granted supervised access to detainees within the approved visitation hours, but stressed that no entry is permitted after 6:30 pm under the commission’s established security guidelines.
Odey added that the woman in the viral video admitted arriving at the commission’s headquarters at about 7:00 pm, 30 minutes after the official access window had closed.
He pointed out that she acknowledged in the same interview that she had delivered breakfast and lunch to her husband earlier that day, thereby contradicting claims that the defendant was denied food.
Responding to the allegations that medical personnel were refused access, Odey clarified that it merely requested proper identification and confirmation from the defendant before allowing supervised interaction with the said medical team, describing the measure as standard security procedure.
The ICPC also revealed that Malam el-Rufai had, within the preceding week, been granted permission to visit both his dentist and eye doctor on separate occasions under official escort by the commission’s personnel.
According to Odey, the former governor also enjoys access to the commission’s in-house medical personnel and healthcare facilities whenever required.
He stressed that given el-Rufai’s status as a high-profile and politically exposed figure who previously served as director-general of a federal agency, minister, member of the Federal Executive Council and governor, enhanced security measures around his custody were both necessary and justified.
