A civil society organisation, Coalition for Brighter Nigeria, said any attempt by the federal government or any of its agencies to probe the allegations of bribe-taking against Governor Abdullahi Ganduje will amount to usurping the powers of the Kano State House of Assembly.
“Kano State House of Assembly is statutorily empowered to probe any allegations of wrongdoing against state governor. It is therefore unconstitutional and against extant laws of the Federation for anyone to urge the president or the attorney general to begin the probe of a sitting governor who has immunity,” the coalition said on Monday in a statement signed by its coordinator Comrade Julius Maikai.
A Lagos-based anti-corruption group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order the probe of Governor Ganduje, following some video clips on the internet showing the governor allegedly collecting kickbacks from contractors.
The group, in an open letter to the President on Sunday, urged Buhari to use his good office to direct either the Attorney General of the Federation or anti-graft agencies to probe the bribery allegations against Ganduje.
The coalition, however, said the SERAP moves was “unnecessary because the Kano assembly which has the legitimate powers to probe a sitting governor is already investigating the matter. The president can’t accede to SERAP’s calls because that will be tantamount to usurping the powers of the state legislature.”
On claims that the personal security of the publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar, who published the videos, is threatened, the coalition said that can’t be true. “Jaafar was in Kano and he testified before the lawmakers without any incident. By this, any claim of security threat is political. He came, testified, and left without anybody raising a finger at him. That shows the lawmakers are matured and ready to do their work without any interference,” the statement said
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