•Gov, predecessor at endless loggerheads
From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano is back to war after a ceasefire among its warring political class. The state is boiling over, its books are thrown open, serious accusations are fired from all directions and the guilty are standing at the mercy of time.
Since assumption of office, on May 29th, 2023, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) led by the Governor of the state, Abba Kabiru Yusuf has been engaged in war with its predecessor.
The initial mark of the infraction was characterized by caterpillar demolition of government properties alleged to have been irregularly acquired by allies of the previous administration or properties adjudged to have undermined the state’s master plan.
Daula Hotel, a huge multi- million Naira state owned property and the Massalacin Eid property were both brought down in an overnight demolition exercise that hauled unprecedented pains and anguish on hundreds of people. Many had gone to court to secure judgments against the government following the demolition.
The second phase of the hostilities was at the Governorship tribunal, where they fought each other like the world was ending soon.
Now, the state has returned to war. Last week, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja, suspended the Chairman of the Kano Public Complaint And Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), Muhyi Magaji Rimingado.
Rimingado was arraigned before the Tribunal over alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for public officers, conflict of interest, abuse of office, false asset declaration, bribery and accepting gift, among others.
The Tribunal directed him to step aside as the Chairman of PCACC over allegations of contravening the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act CAP C15 LFN 2004 pending the hearing and determination of the case.
It also Governor Yusuf and the Secretary to the State Government, Baffa Abdullahi Bichi, to take all necessary steps to appoint the most appropriate officer to take over the Commission in an acting capacity pending the hearing and determination of the case.
Further to the order of the CCT in Abuja, a bitter fight however awaited the Ganduje camp in Kano on the same day. Two incidents happened simultaneously to buttress the battle ahead. The first was the setting up of two Commissions of Inquiry to probe the eight years of the Ganduje administration.
The Commissions headed by Justice Zuwaira Yusuf and Justice Lawan Farouk were to investigate the cases of misappropriation of public properties, political violence and missing persons in the state between 2015 to 2023.
While inaugurating the commissionsthe governor stated that they were neither political nor targeted at any particular individual even as he charged them to remain true to their oath of office.
The second incident saw the government approach the State High Court presided by Justice Usman Na abba to file a suit against Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat, Abubakar Baru, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited and Lasage General Enterprises Limited on an eight-count charge bordering on the allegations of dollar bribery, diversion and misappropriation of public funds that include alleged $413,000 and N1.38bn bribery, among others.
According to the court, the respondents will appear before it on the 17th of April, 2024, which itself is going to be a thriller as no such treatment has been extended to any previous governor of the state.
According to one of the charges,” Abdullahi Umar Ganduje Sometimes between the period of January 10, 2016 or thereabout, at Kano in the Kano Judicial Division, while serving as the Governor of Kano State and being a public servant in the government of Kano State corruptly asked for and received the sum of $200,000 being benefit for himself from one of the beneficiaries of contracts awarded by the Kano State Government on his instruction and approval as part of his function as the Governor of Kano State.
The sheet stated that the action was an act of official corruption contrary to and punishable under Section 22 of The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission Law 2008 (as amended), Law No2 of 2009, Laws of Kano State of Nigeria.
A second count on the sheet stated, “That you, Abdulahi Umar Ganduje Sometimes between the period of February 10, 2017 or there about, at Kano in the Kano Judicial Division, while serving as the Governor of Kano State and being a public servant ni the government of Kano State Respondents agreed to do or caused to be done an illegal act, to wit, dishonestly and/or corruptly to your own advantage collected a kick back of the sum of $213,000 being money generated from people and entities seeking or holding the execution of Kano State Government contact and or project for the remodeling of Kantin Kwari textile market as a bribe through one of the contractors (agent).”
The sheet held that the former governor thereby committed the offence of official corruption contrary to and punishable under Section 22 of The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission Law 2008 (as amended), Law No2 of 2009, Laws of Kano State of Nigeria.
Edwin Olofu, Chief Press Secretary Ganduje, rebuked the governor as deploying a diversionary tactic to cover up his failure to perform.
Ganduje, in that statement, noted that there was really nothing on the ground in the state to justify the sharp increase in statutory allocations to the state since the inception of the President Bola Tinubu led administration. He cautioned that the latest attempts by the government to drag his name in the mud would fail, adding that their action also spoke volumes of the level of crass ignorance and disregard for the rule of law by the Governor Abba Yusuf-led administration.
“In their desperate attempt to malign me and my family, they either forgot or probably cannot conduct themselves by the dictates of the law,” the statement said.
“They failed to take judicial notice of the recent pronouncement of the Federal High Court in Kano which ruled that the so-called offence I am being accused of is a federal offence that can only be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The state APC challenged the governor to extend his probe to the administration of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso if it was to be taken seriously.
Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Abbas, faulted the timeline of the probe, insisting that it ought to have captured, “From 1999—2009 and 2011-2015” being dates when Kwankwaso was in power. He declared that during this period of the administration, the controversial five kilometer road projects in the 44 local government areas were awarded only for the funds to be misappropriated without the projects being executed.
He alleged also that during this period, over N3 billion was earmarked for a particular project but misappropriated by Kwankwaso during his presidential campaign in Lagos- when N70 million was released by each local government areas.
He urged the governor to summon all the LG chairmen that served under the Kwankwaso administration to give account of what really transpired during the period in order to unravel the mystery behind the alleged misappropriated funds.
He also noted the official misuse of N4billion Pension Trust Funds that took place during this period and whose impact was still being felt negatively till date.
He further alleged that it was on record that some key elements of the Yusuf’s administration had threatened to kill the judges of the 2003 election petition tribunal in a viral video, but nothing was done to assuage the situation.
“It is shocking and disturbing that despite the threat to life meted out by one of the commissioners against the judicial officers, the name of the commissioner was resubmitted to the Kano State House of Assembly for confirmation and has since been cleared by the House as a commissioner.”
Faulting the composition of the two Commissions of Inquiry, Abbas asserted its membership revealed that they were members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and other partisan politicians.
“This singularly and clearly shows that the commissions have been assigned with a duty to witch –hunt and politically victimize the subjects of investigation” the statement said.
Governor’s Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature, said: “Our eight months in office has remarkably outweighed Ganduje’s eight wasted years of political caricature and maladministration by all standards.” Yusuf claimed while advising Ganduje to buckle up in defence of his already battered image at the court, instead of further exposing his impunity on the media space:
“We wish to reaffirm the present administration’s resolve and readiness to make anyone found guilty of corruption to face the full wrath of the law for thier intentional wrong doings.”