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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has suffered another legal setback after the High Court of Kaduna State rejected his fresh application for bail on medical grounds, following evidence that the National Hospital, Abuja, disowned the medical report he relied upon.
Justice D. H. Khobo, in a ruling delivered on June 29, dismissed el-Rufai’s third bail application in the ongoing criminal trial instituted against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The former governor had urged the court to grant him bail, claiming he had been diagnosed with advanced metastatic prostate cancer requiring specialised treatment that was allegedly unavailable in Nigeria.
However, in a statement yesterday, the ICPC spokesman and Head of Media and Public Communications, Okor Odey, said the Commission opposed the application with documentary evidence from the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Abuja, Professor Muhammad Raji Mahmud, disowning the medical report tendered by the defendant.
According to the Commission, the hospital carried out a comprehensive search of its electronic medical records and patient indexes but found no hospital number, patient file, billing record, consultation history or any evidence showing that el-Rufai had ever been treated at the facility.
The hospital also stated that the report was issued without the knowledge or authorisation of its management.
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Justice Khobo held that the credibility and reliability of the medical report had been fundamentally undermined, stressing that a document formally disowned by the institution on whose letterhead it was purportedly issued could not serve as the basis for granting the exceptional relief sought by the applicant.
The court ruled that, with the collapse of the evidentiary foundation of the application, there were no credible and institutionally verified facts to justify the exercise of judicial discretion in favour of bail on health grounds.
The judge, however, ordered the ICPC to continue granting the former governor unrestricted access to his personal medical doctors and to ensure that he is escorted to any specialised diagnostic or clinical facility of his choice within Nigeria whenever the need arises during the trial.
The Commission described the order as consistent with its existing practice and pledged full compliance.
It also welcomed the ruling, saying it reaffirmed the principle that applications for bail on medical grounds must be supported by credible and verifiable evidence and determined strictly in accordance with the law.
The ICPC further reiterated its commitment to conducting investigations and prosecutions with professionalism, fairness and respect for the rule of law, while ensuring that every defendant enjoys the rights guaranteed under the Constitution and other applicable laws.
