A video showing the Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, allegedly collecting bribe in dollars is presently circulating on the internet.
In the 2.27-minute video posted by online newspaper Daily Nigerian, the governor can be seen receiving wads of dollars from an individual whose face does not appear.
Watch video:
According to an accompanying report, the video was one of nine videos “clearly” showing the governor, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), collecting bribes from contractors in the state.
Daily Nigerian, quoting unnamed sources, also accused Ganduje of receiving 15 to 25 percent of funds earmarked for every project in the state as kickbacks.
The online paper reported that the governor has in this way received more than $5 million dollars in bribe.
Explaining how it came about the video, the paper said, “The sting operation to capture the governor on camera began two years ago when one of the contractors agreed with DAILY NIGERIAN request to plant spy camera on his kaftan lapel while offering the bribe.
“During about 10 months efforts to capture the bribe giving/taking scenes, the governor’s face and body were clearly captured in nine clips, while six others did not clearly reveal the governor’s face. About $5m dollars were delivered to the governor during the sting operation.
“One of the contractors who preferred not to be named said the reason he collaborated with DAILY NIGERIAN was to expose corruption and bring sanity to the country.”
Recall that The Herald had two days ago reported Ganduje denying receiving bribes from any contractor in the state.
Speaking in a statement through the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Garba, the governor said, “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.
“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.”