THE Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission says it has confirmed the authenticity of the bribery video involving the state’s former governor, Umar Ganduje.
Chairman of the the agency, Muhuyi Rimingado, declared that, contrary to Ganduje’s claims, the video was not doctored.
Rimingado spoke on Wednesday, July 5, at a ‘One Day Public Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Crusade’ in Kano.
In a video that went viral in 2017, Ganduje was seen receiving bundles of dollar notes offered as bribe from a contractor and stuffing them in his dress.
Rimingado claimed that since the video’s release, he has come under pressure from all sides to establish the governor’s guilt or innocence.
He explained that because Ganduje was immune from prosecution during his time in office, it had been hard to establish his guilt or innocence since the committee started looking into the issue in 2018.
When the video appeared in public, Ganduje discredited the contents of the video.
A committee was formed by the Kano State House of Assembly to look into the claims, but it has yet to turn in its findings before the new assembly was inaugurated on July 4.
Jafar Jafar, the Publisher of the Daily Nigerian online newspaper who leaked the video, insisted that the footage published by the paper was authentic and not manipulated in any way.
He said this during an investigative hearing into the allegations by the Kano State House of Assembly in 2018.
After the video was released, the Kano State government said Ganduje never collected bribes from contractors.
The government also described the video as “cloned”, adding that the governor would explore every legal means in seeking redress.
A few days after the publication of the video clip, Ganduje told reporters that he was not worried about the impact the video may have on him and that he was innocent of the accusations.
Jafar explained that the video was captured by a friend of his who is a contractor with the Kano State government and who had complained that Ganduje receives kickbacks, ranging from 15 to 25 per cent for every project executed in the state.
Despite the viral video showing Ganduje allegedly receiving a bribe from a contractor, a court in December 2019 dismissed a suit by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking to investigate the governor.
The Federal High Court sitting in Kano dismissed the suit filed by a lawyer, Bulama Bukarti, who sought an order from the court to instruct the EFCC to investigate Ganduje.
The court ruled that the EFCC does not have a record of the forensic analysis of the bribery allegations.
Again, recently, Ganduje asked the Kano State High Court to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating him in connection with the incident.
The court was asked stop the EFCC from scrutinising Ganduje until the outcome of a dispute between the former governor and Jafaar, Publisher of the Daily Nigerian, was known.
In a related development, the Kano Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday, July 4, arrested and detained Ganduje’s commissioner for works and Infrastructure, Idris Wada Saleh and five others over alleged N1 billion fraud.
The commissioner was arrested alongside the Permanent Secretary of Public Procurement Bureau, Mustapha Madaki Huguma, and the director of finance, research and planning.
They were accused of withdrawing about N1 billion for 30 road and drainage rehabilitation projects that were never completed.
According to Daily Post, the money, which was withdrawn in three instalments, was reportedly transferred into the accounts of three companies in April 2023.
The ICIR reported on June 21 that the Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, reinstated the state chairman of the Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission (PCACC), Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, whom his predecessor Ganduje sacked.
Following his reinstatement, Rimingado promised to revive the dollar bribery investigation against Ganduje.
Rimingado insisted that the matter be thoroughly probed even though the former governor disputed the accusation, claiming the video was doctored, and went to court to seek damages.
Also, during his swearing-in on May 29, Yusuf expressed sadness over the N241 billion debt left by Ganduje’s administration.
A reporter with the ICIR
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