Following the uproar caused by a series of leaked videos showing the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje stuffing stacks of dollars in his Agbada, members of the Kano State House of Assembly have resolved to go ahead with its independent investigations despite the refusal of the governor to appear before an investigative committee of the house as well as an existing court order.
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The Kano State House of Assembly’s ad hoc committee investigating the bribery allegation against Governor Abdullahi Ganduje resolved to continue with its probe flying in the face of a recent court ruling obtained by the governor barring the state assembly from investigating him.
This resolve was announced by the Committee Chairman, Baffa Babba during a news conference in Kano, a day after the ruling of the court asking all parties in the matter to maintain status quo pending the hearing of an application seeking to stop the investigation.
In defending the resolve of the committee, Babba hammered on the fact that the court did not specifically stop the committee from investigating the video showing Ganduje receiving a bribe.
The chairman said further that although the committee was willing to adhere to court rulings, it would not allow the Judiciary interfere in its Constitutional duties.
“We will respect the court but the order in question obtained by the Lawyers For Sustainable Democracy In Nigeria only states that we should maintain status quo, and we intends to maintain that status quo and we will proceed with our investigations,” he said.
The embattled governor of Kano state rather than attend the hearing at the state assembly, sent a letter instead denying all the allegations of bribery leveled against him.
The court order asking the house to cease its investigations pending the time a substantive suit against the investigations would be heard was issued 72 hours later.
Prominent Nigerians and rights groups have called for relevant agencies to prosecute the governor in the face of irrefutable evidence against the number one citizen of Kano.
SERAP had written a letter to President Buhari demanding that he direct relevant anti-graft agencies to investigate the governor and make him pay for his crime if found guilty at the expiration of his tenure.