The police in Kano have banned the Kano State chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) from embarking on a rally to call for the resignation of Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, over an alleged $5 million bribe.
Ganduje appeared in a series of video clips, receiving money in dollars alleged to be bribe amounting to about $5million.
The money was given by persons believed to be contractors to the state government.
The two minutes video was recorded in 2017 in what Daily Nigerian described as a sting operation aimed at beaming a spotlight on the governor’s alleged penchant for contract racketeering.
The governor has debunked the video as “cloned” and threatened a sweeping lawsuit against its publisher.
But Premium Times’ graphics experts who examined the video corroborated the position of Daily Nigerian, which earlier said its internal and independent graphics analysts have authenticated the clips.
In an audio announcement on Tuesday evening, the Kano police spokesperson, Magaji Majia, said the police rejected the students’ request to conduct rally on October 29 from Zoo Road to Kano Government House.
The rally, according to Majia, was to ask the governor to step aside and allow for an independent investigation to ascertain the authenticity of the video clips.
“I wish to warn the group leader, Comrade Isa Abubakar, to caution his members to desist from embarking on this rally.
“However, we advise anyone who has a complaint or suggestion on this matter to approach the committee set up by the state House of Assembly in order to expand investigation.
“But whoever is caught violating this directives would face the wrath of law,” Majia said.
The Kano State House of Assembly had on Monday set up a seven-member committee to probe the videos. The committee was given one month to perform its task. It is not clear if the assembly, made up largely of the governor’s loyalists, would do a thorough job.
In a related development, a civil society organisation, Youth Coalition Movement, has called on the Kano State House of Assembly to immediately suspend Ganduje, pending the outcome of the investigative committee constituted by the house.
A statement signed by the group’s chairman, Aminu Sparrow on Tuesday, said that the suspension became necessary to allow proper investigation.
He appealed to the state assembly not to hesitate in taking drastic action on anyone found guilty of such act, no matter the position he occupies so as to serve as deterrent to others.
Sparrow advised the state Assembly to reduce the timeframe given to the committee to two weeks for speedy investigation.
… Kwankwaso speaks on involvement in scandal video
Former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has spoken out on the viral video clips showing his successor, Governor Umar Ganduje, reportedly taking bribes and stuffing bundles of dollar bills in his babariga attire, and dissociated himself from the scandal.
The lawmaker, was reacting while responding to the claim of the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, that Publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar, who shared the video, has been working for the opposition.
In his reaction, Kwankwanso stated that there was nothing between him and Jaafar, while also debunking reports that he or the publisher is an antagonist of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kwankwanso who spoke through his spokesperson, Hajiya Binta Spikin, said: “Everyone knows that Jaafar Jaafar is an independent journalist and his medium, Daily Nigerian, is also independent.
“There is no deal whatsoever between Jafar and Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso. So if they are suspecting anything, it is left for them to prove it.”
