National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has warned the Kano State Government not to mess with him as it had no right to prosecute him for alleged bribes of $413,000 and N1.38 billion.
Ganduje gave the warning in a statement issued on Friday by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, in a reaction to probe panel the state established last week to probe him on various allegations.
According to the APC head, only the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could charge him for the alleged offences.
Ganduje urged his successor, Governor Yusuf Abba, to focus on delivering good governance to Kano people instead of embarking on a futile attempt to drag his name in the mud.
The statement said the bribery allegation was an “unfortunate and sorry attempt” to divert attention away from the fact that the Governor had nothing on the ground in the state to justify the massive allocations he had received since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration began.
Olofu’s statement said: “In their desperate attempt to malign me and my family, they either forgot or probably cannot conduct themselves by the dictates of the law. They failed to take judicial notice of the recent pronouncement of the Federal High Court in Kano, which ruled that the so-called offence I am being accused of is a federal offence that can only be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
“Rather than join issues with my traducers in Kano over the trumped-up charges levelled against me, I would implore them to redirect their energies towards easing the plights 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 developmen- tal strides. They can still salvage the situation as my tenure was devoid of any wrongdoing.” Continuing, the APC chairman admonished that it would have been in the best interest of the state to extend the deadline of the probe to flag off from 1999 to date.
“As the saying goes, he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. It shouldn’t be seen as targeted at my administration alone. It should not be seen to be borne out of malice, vindictiveness, and ill will. It should be for public good and interest.
“We conducted the affairs of governance in the state openly and transparently during my tenure. We don’t need to be seeking direction from our masters to do what is proper.”
