Senator Jibrin Barau says the viral videos showing Kano Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje collecting bribe were part of calculated attempts to score political points.
The senator, who represents Kano North on the platform of APC, said the purpose of the videos, which he described as fake, was to smear the governor and prevent him from winning his second term bid in 2019.
He accused a former governor of the state as being part of the sponsors of the viral videos, noting that the sponsors have failed as nothing would stop the governor from achieving his political heights.
Barau, who chairs the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, called on Nigerians, especially indigene of Kano State, to disregard the videos.
“It amazes me how low we can go in this country to try to bring people down for very selfish political ends, else how does one explain this outrageous manipulation aimed at no other thing than to rubbish the good name and reputation of a performing Governor so loved by our people,” he said.
“Already, Video Tech Analysts have come up with a damning verdict branding the video as fake owing to the manifest incoherence in the dates and time shown in the video as well as the use of technology to make the set up look real.
“I would not have taken the satanic video clips serious but for the masquerades behind it, who are rabid supporters of a former Governor of the State who is at loggerheads with His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“The same antics was used to malign and blackmail His Eminence, the Emir of Kano, Dr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi until the same source came to tell the world that the material so depicted was in fact cloned and fake.