Tension Grows as ADC Leaders Reportedly Denied Access to El Rufai in Detention

Top officials of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), including National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola, National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi, and Salihu Lukman of the party’s Manifesto and Policy Committee, were reportedly turned away when they attempted to visit former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai at an ICPC detention facility.

The full details of the incident remained unclear as of Friday.

This visit came shortly after the ICPC publicly refuted claims that El-Rufai was being mistreated in custody.

The commission’s spokesperson, Okor Odey, called such allegations baseless, noting that visitation is permitted between 9:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and that El-Rufai’s wife had arrived outside those hours.

He added that approved visitors family, lawyers, and medical staff are allowed in under supervision.

Despite this, El-Rufai’s family maintained that he was being denied access to his personal physicians, even after a Kaduna High Court order granted him unrestricted access to legal and medical representatives.

The family also alleged that even after the ICPC’s own doctor recommended further medical evaluation, El-Rufai was blocked from following up on those results.

His second wife, Hasiat, specifically claimed he was prevented from seeing a doctor to discuss his test findings.