The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has taken fresh action against Professor Bello Abubakar, the oncologist accused of issuing a fake medical report for former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the commission has petitioned the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to investigate and sanction him for alleged professional misconduct.
The anti-graft agency, in a petition addressed to the Medical Practitioners Investigating Panel, asked the MDCN to commence disciplinary proceedings against Professor Abubakar based on an affidavit dated July 7, 2026, filed before the High Court of Nasarawa State. The petition urged the panel to conduct “a thorough and swift investigation” into the allegations against the doctor, who is a Chief Consultant Clinical/Radiation Oncologist at the National Hospital, Abuja.
The Medical Practitioners Investigating Panel, one of the MDCN’s disciplinary bodies, is expected to examine the allegations before deciding whether to refer the matter to the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. An acknowledgement copy of the petition showed that the council received the ICPC’s complaint on July 8.
According to an affidavit deposed to by ICPC investigator Alex Omamuli, El-Rufai relied on a medical report dated June 10, 2026, to support a bail application on health grounds in his ongoing corruption cases before the Federal High Court in Kaduna and the Kaduna State High Court.
The report, which was written on the letterhead of the National Hospital, Abuja, was signed by Professor Abubakar and claimed to contain a diagnosis based on El-Rufai’s medical records at the hospital.
The ICPC said it wrote to the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital on June 17 to verify the authenticity of the report and determine how El-Rufai, who was then in the commission’s custody, was examined.
According to the affidavit, the hospital replied a day later that it could not find any medical records for El-Rufai after searching its electronic database using different versions of his name. The hospital stated that he was not a registered patient and that there was no record of any consultation, physical examination, laboratory test, radiological investigation or clinical history supporting the diagnosis contained in the report.
The hospital further informed the commission that it became aware of the document only after it was presented by the ICPC. Although the report carried the hospital’s letterhead, management said it was issued without its knowledge or authorisation. The hospital also confirmed that Professor Abubakar is a retired officer currently serving on contract.
The commission also maintained that El-Rufai underwent medical examinations while in its custody and that those examinations did not reveal symptoms consistent with the diagnosis contained in the disputed report.
According to the affidavit, Professor Abubakar visited El-Rufai at the ICPC headquarters only twice, on June 8 and June 18, during which only routine blood pressure checks were carried out by a nurse or duty doctor.
The affidavit further stated that no blood, urine, tissue or other bodily samples were taken from El-Rufai by Professor Abubakar during his detention and that regular examinations conducted by his personal doctors and the commission’s resident medical personnel did not reveal symptoms matching the alleged diagnosis.
The investigator concluded that Professor Abubakar prepared a medical report and expert opinion for someone who was not a patient of the National Hospital and did so without conducting the necessary clinical examinations or investigations while using the hospital’s official letterhead without authorisation.
The latest development comes after the ICPC filed a four-count charge against the doctor before the Kaduna State High Court, accusing him of forgery and other offences in connection with the disputed medical report titled “Medical Report and Expert Opinion for Urgent Medical Intervention.”
According to the charge sheet, the ICPC accused Professor Abubakar of knowingly preparing a false medical report to support El-Rufai’s application for bail on health grounds. He was also accused of using his position as a medical consultant to confer an unfair advantage, conspiring with another individual to fabricate false information and presenting the report as though it had the approval of the National Hospital.
Court filings indicate that the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Muhammad Mahmud, is expected to testify that the report was issued without the required medical examination, was not authorised by the hospital and did not follow due process.
Professor Abubakar is currently in ICPC custody.
Meanwhile, El-Rufai, is facing multiple corruption-related cases filed by the ICPC. He has denied all allegations against him, pleaded not guilty and repeatedly accused both the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government of using the prosecutions to keep him in detention.