The Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, has dispelled reports being circulated that he was caught “red handed” on tape receiving bribes from contractors executing projects in the state.
The governor described the report as blackmail which he would not succumb to.
An online news platform said it was in possession of five video clips which clearly showed Ganduje receiving kickbacks totalling $5 million from contractors at different times.
The report also claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari had seen the clips and is highly displeased with the governor.
But despite promising to publish the videos, the online newspaper has failed to do so as at Friday morning.
Reacting to the report in a Thursday statement through the Commissioner of Information in the state, Mohammed Garba, the governor dared the platform to release the video it claims to have.
The statement read in part, “The attention of Kano State Government has been drawn to a malicious report by an online media
platform, alleging that the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was involved in an inappropriate conduct, after foot dragging by the online media to give clarity to the allegation with a clear view to blackmail and extort the Governor.
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“The blackmail did not come as a surprise to the government and good people of Kano State particularly at a time when we are approaching general elections. Evidently, Kano being the strong- hold of the APC and expected to produce the highest votes in the upcoming general elections is a target of campaign of calumny.
“It is also not surprising that the stuff is published by one who has for long been working for the opposition and an antagonist of the APC government in Nigeria.
“We wish to state that there is no iota of truth to these allegations and if indeed there is any such alleged video,
it is at best cloned.
“More so, in this era of technological advancements, some evil-minded people often take advantage to blackmail and extort and assassinate the character of people that do not patronise them.
“It will be recalled that just recently, the Inspector General of Police, Emir of Kano, Governor of Adamawa and many others were ridiculed when their cloned videos and pictures went viral respectively.
“It is surprising that the same editor of the online medium making the baseless allegations against the governor was the one who came out to defend the Emir, arguing that the video was cloned. Indeed it was.”
He also challenged the online newspaper to reveal the identity of the giver of the bribe to better help Nigerians believe its story.
The statement further read, “We are therefore calling on the general public to be vigilant as we heard from good authority that many of such cloned videos involving highly placed persons considered as obstacle to the opposition agenda ahead of 2019 will be released in piece meal.
“The government of Kano State is taking this matter seriously, and will exploit every appropriate and legal avenue to ensure that it gets to the root of the matter and the perpetrators are brought to book. We also call on the good people of Kano and particularly members of the APC to remain calm and always be law abiding.
“His Excellency Governor Ganduje will remain focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to the good
people of Kano including other national assignments. He will never succumb to blackmail or negotiate with blackmailers.”