President Buhari has distanced his administration from the bribery allegation levelled against the governor of Kano state, Umar Ganduje.
In a series of videos released by the publisher of Daily Nigeria, Ja’afar Ja’afar, the governor was alleged to have received a total of $5 million in installments from a certain contractor on several occasions.
In the wake of the scandal, many Nigerians have called on the president to act on the allegations. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) recently wrote an open letter to the president urging him to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, or appropriate anti-graft agencies to investigate the allegations.
However, while speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics on Sunday, President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the president has no business interfering in the matter in its current state.
He said the president will take a back seat while the Kano State House of Assembly will investigate the allegations. He also hinted that federal anti-graft agencies might be investigating the governor.
Ganduje was recently invited for questioning by the state’s House of Assembly panel investigating bribery allegations against him. Even though he was directed to appear before the committee on Friday, November 2, he failed to show up but sent the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Garba, to represent him.
While addressing the committee, Garba said the allegations against the governor are false. He also dismissed the videos as doctored.
Ganduje’s counsel, Ma’aruf Yakasai, told the committee that the governor has neglected to sue Ja’afar for defamation so as to allow the House of Assembly to handle the issue.
Chairman of the committee, Bappa Dan’agundi, disclosed that lawyers of Ganduje and Jaafar will meet with graphic experts to watch the video clips on Tuesday, November 6.
When Ja’afar appeared before the same committee on October 25, he insisted that the videos are not doctored like Governor Ganduje has claimed.
He said the sting operation was conducted after a contractor friend of his complained that the governor had been receiving bribes, ranging from 15% to 25%, for every project executed in the state from contractors.
He revealed that spy cameras were planted in the contractor’s kaftan lapel to catch the governor in the act. Of the 15 clips he said were recorded during the operation, nine fully showed the governor’s face, body and hands collecting bundles of dollars.