It could be the beginning of the end, politically, for former Kano State Governor and incumbent National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as he will be arraigned before a Kano State High Court tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, for bribery and diversion of funds, among others.
He will be charged with allegations of bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of funds, including the purported acceptance of $413,000 and N1.38bn in bribes, that he committed while he held sway as the Governor of Kano State.
According to the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr. Haruna Dederi, Ganduje would be arraigned alongside his wife and six others.
The Governor Abba Yusuf administration, which initiated the criminal suit against the eight respondents, had declared its readiness to present 15 witnesses to testify before Justice Usman Na’aba of the State High Court.
Danduje, had, while serving as Kano State Governor in 2017, been caught on camera receiving bundles of dollar notes as a bribe from a man suspected to be a contractor and stuffing the mint-fresh dollar bills into his flowing agbada.
Though the video of the bribery mess went viral and generated public opprobrium against Ganduje, he vehemently denied any wrongdoing. But the video has been a subject of serious scrutiny since power changed hands in the state on May 29, 2023.
The video, which garnered widespread attention in 2017, has been the subject of intense scrutiny with the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and its Governor, Engineer Abba Yusuf, vowing to revisit the case and prosecute Ganduje.
