Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), says the charges against him for allegedly collecting $200,000
from a contractor are “trumped-up”.
Ganduje, immediate former governor of Kano, spoke in reaction
to an eight-count charge filed against him by the state government.
In 2018, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, published a
video of Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from contractors, which
he stuffed into his “babanriga”, a traditional outfit.
The newspaper reported that the former governor requested $5
million as a bribe from the contractors who recorded the video.
In a statement on Friday, Edwin Olofu, chief press secretary
(CPS) to Ganduje, quoted him as saying that Abba Yusuf, the governor of Kano,
is using diversionary tactics to cover up his failure.
The former governor said the Kano government should take
notice of a pronouncement of the federal high court that held that the alleged
offence is a federal one that could only be prosecuted by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the attorney-general of the federation
(AGF).
“In their desperate attempt to malign me and my family, they
either forgot or probably cannot conduct themselves by the dictate of the law,”
the statement reads.
“They failed to take
judicial notice of the pronouncement of the Federal High Court in Kano which
ruled that the so-called offence I am being accused of was a federal offence
that could be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the Federation and the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Rather than join issues with my traducers in Kano over the
trumped-up charges levelled against me, I would rather implore them to redirect
their energies towards uplifting the plight of our people in Kano.
“They still have the opportunity to revert to my blueprint
for the sustainable growth and development of Kano state. It is not yet late in
the day for them to emulate my developmental strides.”
The APC national chairman said his tenure as governor of
Kano was devoid of any wrongdoings.
