The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has filed a four-count criminal charge against Professor Bello Abubakar, a consultant oncologist at the National Hospital, Abuja, over an allegedly false medical report used to support former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s application for bail on health grounds.
The charges, filed on Friday, accuse Abubakar of providing false information, abusing his position, acting with another person to fabricate information and presenting a document as though it had been authorised by the National Hospital.
The disputed document, titled “Medical Report and Expert Opinion for Urgent Medical Intervention,” was dated June 10, 2026, and allegedly prepared for use in El-Rufai’s bail application in case number KDH/KAD/ICPC/02/2026, pending before the Kaduna State High Court.
According to the charge sheet, Abubakar allegedly authored the report despite knowing that its contents were false and presented it to a Commissioner for Oaths in Kaduna State before it was filed in court.
In the first count, the ICPC accused the doctor of knowingly giving false information with the intention of misleading a public officer, contrary to Section 17(1)(c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
The second count alleges that he used his position as a medical consultant to issue the disputed report despite allegedly knowing that it did not reflect El-Rufai’s actual medical status.
The commission alleged that the act was intended to secure an unfair advantage in the former governor’s ongoing court proceedings and constituted an offence under Section 19 of the ICPC Act.
In the third count, Abubakar was accused of acting with one Aliyu Bala to produce false information by preparing the report, which allegedly enabled Bala to depose to a further affidavit in support of El-Rufai’s bail application.
The alleged offence was brought under Section 79 of the Penal Code.
The fourth count accuses the doctor of dishonestly making a false document and presenting it as though it had the approval and authority of the National Hospital, despite allegedly knowing that the institution had neither authorised nor endorsed it.
The commission said the alleged conduct violated Sections 362 and 364 of the Penal Code.
The Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Dr Raji Mahmud, was listed as one of the prosecution’s principal witnesses.
According to the court filings, Mahmud is expected to testify that the medical report was purportedly issued in El-Rufai’s favour without the examination and procedures ordinarily required by the hospital.
He is also expected to tell the court that the document was handed to the former governor’s family for use in the bail application without the knowledge or approval of the hospital’s management.
The hospital reportedly informed ICPC investigators that although the report was written on its official letterhead, it contained no hospital number.
Its officials were said to have searched the hospital’s electronic medical records using different variations of El-Rufai’s name and reviewed patients who attended the Oncology Clinic during the first two weeks of June 2026.
The search allegedly produced no matching patient record, leading the hospital to conclude that El-Rufai was not registered as its patient at the time the report was issued.
The hospital also said the absence of a hospital number and personal telephone number made it impossible to verify any visit, payment receipt or departmental record connected to the former governor.
Mahmud is expected to testify that the hospital’s management was unaware of the report until it was presented to the institution by the ICPC during its investigation.
He reportedly confirmed that Abubakar remains attached to the National Hospital as a Chief Consultant Radiation Oncologist on a contract appointment following his retirement from full-time service.
Abubakar, however, gave a different account in his statement to investigators.
He maintained that El-Rufai had been registered as a National Hospital patient since 2005 and said he had attended to the former governor on several occasions.
The doctor reportedly explained that some of the consultations were not formally documented because he did not consider them discussions requiring entries in the hospital’s records.
He said no more than four consultations involving El-Rufai were documented between 2017 and 2025.
Abubakar also claimed that he consulted for the former governor three times between 2025 and 2026 while El-Rufai was in ICPC custody—twice at the commission’s facility and once at the National Hospital.
The hospital’s Chief Medical Director reportedly contradicted that account, maintaining that, according to available records, El-Rufai was registered as a patient only on July 7, 2026.
The ICPC also listed its investigator, Olugbemi Osanoto, a representative of the Kaduna State High Court and other witnesses who may be called through subpoenas.
Documents listed by the prosecution include Abubakar’s statements dated July 9 and 14, Mahmud’s statement dated July 10, correspondence from the National Hospital dated June 18 and July 10, and a wallet deposit record dated July 7.
The filing of the charges followed Abubakar’s earlier arrest by the commission over statements connected with a court-approved medical visit involving El-Rufai.
The former Kaduna governor is facing separate corruption-related prosecutions and has pleaded not guilty to the allegations against him. He has repeatedly accused the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government of using the cases to prolong his detention and politically persecute him.
The allegations against Abubakar have not been proven, and he remains presumed innocent unless convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction.
