A civil society organization, the Human and environmental development agenda (HEDA), accused Abdullahi Ganduje of exerting his influence on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to “intimidate” Muhuyi Magaji, chairman of the Kano State Anti-Corruption and Public Complaints Commission.
But EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said Monday that the allegation was false.
An aide to Ganduje also denied the accusation, saying: “The APC national president does not interfere with the operations of government agencies, let alone anti-corruption institutions.”
Ganduje, a former governor of Kano state, is the current national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr. Ganduje and Mr. Magaji have been having an ongoing battle over the latter’s attempt to investigate the former for corruption allegations.
Ganduje as Governor of Kano would later be fired Mr. Magaji from the position of Chairman of the Kano State Anti-Corruption and Public Complaints Commission.
But upon taking over as governor of Kano in May, Abba Yusuf, in compliance with an existing court order, reinstated Magaji as the state’s anti-corruption chairman.
Yusuf won the Kano state gubernatorial election in March on the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) platform, defeating Ganduje’s anointed candidate, Nasiru Gawuna of the APC.
Following the reinstatement of Mr. Magaji, he reopened the investigation of Mr. Ganduje.
Ganduje, while governor, was seen in a viral video receiving wads of dollars from a contractor and tucking them into her flowing dress.
Newslodge reported how the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and EFCC launched investigations against Mr. Magaji for an alleged code of conduct violation, leading to accusations of using federal power to stifle local investigations.
Alarm
In a statement on Saturday, HEDA Chairman Olanrewaju Suraju said Magaji is under attack for daring to investigate “big corruption allegations” involving Ganduje, who recently took over as APC’s national chairman.
“All these actions and discoveries have led the former Governor (Mr. Ganduje) to attack Commission Chairman Kano, using his current position as National Chairman of the ruling party to intimidate federal government agencies into helping to squeeze the anti-Kano. anti-corruption agency,” said the anti-corruption activist.
Suraju recalled that the Kano anti-corruption agency had enjoyed a collaborative relationship with the EFCC and the CCB over the years to combat corruption.
However, the EFCC and the CCB sent letters to the Kano State Anti-Corruption and Public Complaint Commission, requesting information that the commission claims to be investigating, the HEDA chief said.
He wondered why federal government anti-corruption agencies have avoided investigating Ganduje and other members of his cabinet “several accused of corruption”. He considered a petition written against Mr. Ganduje’s wife by her son as one of the corruption complaints ignored by the EFCC.
According to the HEDA chairman, Ganduje is exerting his influence as chairman of the ruling party by deploying federal anti-corruption agencies to do his “axe work” targeting Magaji.
Copies of the EFCC and CCB letters addressed to Mr. Magaji, and seen by Newslodge, requested various financial transactions from Kano’s anti-corruption agency while Mr. Magaji ruled.
In a letter dated August 8, the EFCC requested Mr. Magaji to release his commission’s director of finance and accounts for questioning at the federal agency in Abuja.
“Details of the total funds released to your office by the Kano State Accountant General’s office from fiscal year 2019 to 2021,” the EFCC letter signed by Mukhtar Bello requested, among other things.
In its letter dated 14 August, the CCB asked Mr. Magaji to provide the bureau with his letter of appointment.
The office, in its letter signed by Gwimi SP, also asked the Kano anti-corruption chief to provide it with his “pay stubs from July 2020 to August 2023”.
HEDA blamed President Bola Tinubu for laying the “foundations of Ganduje’s audacity with his support for (Godswill) Akpabio to emerge as President of the Senate, the appointment of former governors under EFCC investigations as ministers, and eventually Ganduje as president. of the party”.
The accusations are false
Reacting to the allegations, EFCC spokesman Mr Uwujaren said: “The invitation letter explicitly stated the reasons for the invitation. The Commission (EFCC) is not willing to be drawn into any speculation that borders on fallacy”.
Veronica Kato, a spokeswoman for CCB president Isah Mohammed, a law professor, said she could not comment on the matter.
“I advise you to write to the (CCB) president about the accusation,” Verónica told Newslodge on Monday.
Ganduje’s aide, who asked to remain anonymous, noted that “the CCB and EFCC are independent institutions that cannot be influenced by an individual.”
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