The Kano State High Court has fixed April 17 for the arraignment of the immediate-past governor of Kano state, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje on the charge of bribery. He is also the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.
According to the Judicial (N.N) Form 2 the ex-governor is to be arraigned at 9 am before Justice Usman Na’aba, sitting in Courtroom 4.
According to the form, Ganduje will be arraigned alongside his wife, Hafsat, son, Umar and five others on eight counts, bordering on $413,000 and N1.38bn bribery.
The Kano State Government stated that 15 witnesses has been to testify against them. Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd and Lesage General Enterprises were also listed as defendant in the matter.
Governor Abba Yusuf accused Ganduje of misappropriating public funds. He also accused him of allocating plots of land to some members of his immediate family.
In a statement directed at Ganduje through Gov. Yusuf spokesperson, Sanusi Tofa, he urged him to prepare to face his trial instead of talking about non-existent failure in the current administration.
Ganduje says judicial plot against him will fail
Meanwhile, Ganduje Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment, Chief Oliver Okpala has reacted to the development. He described the move by the Kano government as an after-thought. According to him, the matter was within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, not State.
He said, “I am surprised at the said charge, which is coming like an afterthought. However, I am aware that the Federal High Court sitting in Kano recently gave judgment on the same issue, where it gave exclusive reserve to federal agencies to prosecute such matters after investigation, if there is prima facie evidence of committing the offences alleged.
“I will simply urge those concerned to refer to the said judgment of the Federal High Court and take a cue from it so as to be well guided, in their attempt to prosecute, so that public funds will not be dissipated without achieving any success; more so to avoid what will be termed an abuse of court process.”
In count one, the governor was accused of receiving the sum of $200,000 from awarded contractors on January 10, 2016.
On the second count, he was accused of dishonestly collecting a kick-back sum of $213,000 generated for remodeling Kantin Kwari textile market.
In another count, he was charged along side his wife and Abubakar Bawuro, a business ma of dishonestly converting to his use the sum of N1.376 billion meant for the purchase of hospital equipment.
The Kano State’s Attorney General, Muhuyi Magaji, said he was empowered by Section 211 of the 1999 Constitution and Sections 121(1), 126(b) and 377 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2019, “to apply to prefer the charge attached herewith against the defendants.”
