Why El-Rufai is still in our custody after court granted him bail — ICPC

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has denied allegations that the detention and prosecution of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, are politically motivated.

The anti-graft agency said El-Rufai remained in custody because he had yet to meet the bail conditions granted by the court.

Speaking during a media briefing at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, ICPC Deputy Director and Head of Media and Public Communications, John Odey, said the agency was only carrying out its statutory responsibilities.

He said: “The court granted him bail and he is yet to meet his bail conditions.

“If he meets his bail conditions today, I can assure you that the ICPC will let him go. So we are not keeping him.”

Odey insisted that the corruption charges against the former governor should not be viewed through a political lens.

“The ICPC does not play politics.

“The law setting up the ICPC is very clear.

“The reason we have El-Rufai with us is because there were allegations made against him, charges referred against him.

“He has been arraigned in court.

“He is undergoing trial, so he is a defendant in those matters.

“It is strictly a judicial matter.

“It has nothing to do with politics,” he said.

The Commission also dismissed allegations that El-Rufai was denied food and medical attention while in detention.

Reacting to claims made in a viral Hausa-language video interview by one of El-Rufai’s wives, Odey described the allegations as false and misleading.

According to him, the ICPC only operates regulated visiting hours between 9am and 6:30pm.

He said visitor records showed that one of the former governor’s wives and a housemaid visited him several times on the same day the allegation surfaced.

“The woman herself admitted in the same video that she had delivered both breakfast and lunch to her husband earlier that day, thereby contradicting the allegation that the ICPC denied him access to food,” Odey stated.

The ICPC spokesman also disclosed that El-Rufai had been allowed to visit doctors of his choice under official supervision.

He said: “He has been allowed to go see the doctors of his choice.

“Before this incident, he went twice last week and the ICPC took him there.

“He went and came back twice and he has access to our in-house medical facility.”

On claims that medical personnel were denied access to the former governor, the Commission explained that it only requested proper identification and confirmation from El-Rufai before granting supervised access as part of standard security procedures.

Odey added: “El-Rufai is in the custody of the ICPC and he is in good health.”

The Commission further stated that El-Rufai’s status as a high-profile politically exposed person required heightened security measures for both his safety and that of other detainees.