The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a four-count charge against Dr. Bello Abubakar, an oncology consultant at the National Hospital, Abuja, for allegedly forging a medical report used to support a bail application for former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The charges were filed on Friday at the Kaduna State High Court.
Details of the Charges
The first count accuses Dr. 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 a false report, an offence under Section 19 of the same Act. The third count accuses him of forming a common intention with Aliyu Bala to fabricate false information, specifically authoring a 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.
False Medical Report Allegedly Used for Bail
According to the charge sheet, Dr. Abubakar authored a report titled “Medical Report and Expert Opinion for Urgent Medical Intervention,” dated 10 June 2026, knowing its contents were false. He then presented it to a Commissioner for Oaths in Kaduna State before it was filed in court to support Mr. El-Rufai’s bail application in a case marked KDH/KAD/ICPC/02/2026.
Court filings show that the National Hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Raji Mahmud, is expected to testify that Dr. Abubakar issued the report without conducting the required medical examination. The CMD will also testify that the National Hospital, responding to letters from ICPC investigators, stated that it did not authorise the report.
Hospital Denies Authorising Report
In a letter responding to ICPC’s enquiries, the CMD confirmed that Dr. 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 bore no hospital number. Hospital staff 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, Dr. 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 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.
The CMD’s account, however, contradicted this timeline. 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 include extra-judicial statements recorded from Dr. 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 Dr. 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.
