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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a four-count charge against Bello Abubakar, an oncology consultant at the National Hospital, Abuja, accusing him of forging a medical report used to seek bail for former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai on health grounds.
The charges, filed on Friday, accuse the oncology consultant of knowingly issuing a false medical report to mislead a public officer and support Mr El-Rufai’s bail application in a separate case, marked KDH/KAD/ICPC/02/2026, pending before the Kaduna State High Court.
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According to the charge sheet, Mr Abubakar authored the report, titled “Medical Report and Expert Opinion for Urgent Medical Intervention,” dated 10 June 2026 — knowing its contents were false- and presented it to a Commissioner for Oaths in Kaduna State before it was filed in court.
The first count accuses Mr Abubakar of giving false information with intent to mislead a public officer, contrary to Section 17(1)(c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000. The second count alleges he used his position as a medical consultant to confer an unfair advantage on himself by knowingly issuing the false report, an offence under Section 19 of the same Act.
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A third count accuses Mr Abubakar, a professor, of forming a common intention with Aliyu Bala to fabricate false information, specifically authoring the report to enable Mr Bala to depose a further affidavit in support of the bail application, contrary to Section 79 of the Penal Code.
The fourth count accuses him of dishonestly making a false document, presenting the report as though it carried the authority of the National Hospital, when he allegedly knew the document was not authorised by the hospital, an offence under Sections 362 and 364 of the Penal Code.
Hospital denies authorising report
Court filings show that the National Hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Raji Mahmud, is expected to testify that Mr Abubakar purportedly issued the medical report in Mr El-Rufai’s favour without conducting the required medical examination and handed it to the family to support the bail application.
The CMD is also expected to tell the court that the National Hospital, responding to letters from ICPC investigators, stated that it did not authorise the report attributed to the defendant. He is expected to testify further that the report was subsequently used by Mr Bala to depose an affidavit backing Mr El-Rufai’s bail bid, and that investigations established that the report was false and did not follow the hospital’s due process.
In a letter responding to ICPC’s enquiries, the CMD confirmed that Mr Abubakar remains attached to the hospital as a Chief Consultant Radiation Oncologist, on a contract appointment following his retirement from full-time service.
The letter stated that the medical report written by Mr Abubakar bore no hospital number, but that hospital staff nonetheless searched its Electronic Medical Records using variations of Mr El-Rufai’s name, and cross-checked patients who visited the Oncology clinic in the first two weeks of June 2026.
The search found no matching record, leading the hospital to conclude that Mr El-Rufai was not a registered patient. The CMD said the absence of a hospital number or personal phone number made it impossible to verify any hospital visits, receipts or departmental records linked to him.
The CMD further stated that hospital management was unaware of the report until it was presented by the ICPC, and that although it was written on National Hospital letterhead, it did not have the knowledge or backing of hospital management.
Defendant’s account
In his own statement, Mr Abubakar said Mr El-Rufai had been registered as a patient at the National Hospital since 2005, while he himself had been on staff there since 1999.
He said several of his consultations with Mr El-Rufai were not documented because, in his view, they did not amount to discussions requiring formal documentation.
He said he documented no more than four consultations with Mr El-Rufai between 2017 and 2025. He added that between 2025 and 2026, he consulted for Mr El-Rufai three times while the former governor was in ICPC detention — twice at the commission’s facility and once at the National Hospital.
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The CMD’s account, however, contradicted the timeline provided by Mr Abubakar. He said that, as far as he was aware, Mr El-Rufai was registered as a patient only on 7 July 2026, and that he was not aware Mr El-Rufai was a patient at the National Hospital at all.
Evidence and witnesses
The ICPC listed two principal witnesses: its investigator, Olugbemi Osanoto, and the National Hospital’s CMD, Raji Mahmud, alongside a representative of the Kaduna State High Court and any additional witnesses to be produced by subpoena.
Exhibits listed in the charge by the ICPC include extra-judicial statements recorded from Mr Abubakar, dated 9 and 14 July 2026; a statement from the CMD dated 10 July 2026; hospital correspondence dated 18 June and 10 July 2026; and a wallet deposit record dated 7 July 2026, alongside any further evidence to be filed in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
Background
Mr El-Rufai is facing multiple corruption-related prosecutions instituted by the ICPC. The former governor has denied the allegations, pleaded not guilty in the various cases, and has repeatedly accused the federal and Kaduna governments of using the prosecutions to keep him in detention.
PREMIUM TIMES previously reported that the ICPC arrested Mr Abubakar, who is Mr El-Rufai’s personal doctor, over an alleged false statement.
The commission arraigned Mr El-Rufai before the Federal High Court in Kaduna over an alleged N8.68 billion Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance contract fraud awarded during his tenure as governor, in addition to a case before the Kaduna State High Court bordering on alleged abuse of office, procurement violations and related offences from his time in office.
