The Kano state New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Transition Committee, has revealed that the administration of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje allegedly diverted over N100 billion funds belonging to the local governments.
A former Kano Anti Corruption Czar and a member of the NNPP Asset Recovery Transition Committee, Barrister Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado, made the revelation during a Town Hall meeting on Strengthening Investigative Data Driven Journalism in the Fight Against Corruption in Local Languages in Nigeria, organized by WADATA Media, Advocacy Center, WAMAC with Support of MacArthur Foundation. in Kano on Saturday.
According to him, “Official documents recovered clearly shows how N100 billion was Siphons from the Kano Local Governments Treasury to Personal accounts, this is away from other similar diversions we have seen in the quest of our investigation.
“Systematic and endemic Corruption in the Ganduje administration is something that even himself as the State Anti Corruption Agency Chairman, never knew until he became part of the NNPP asset recovery transition Committee member.”
Rimin Gado added that, “the amount of corruption perpetuated under the outgoing government of APC in Kano is mind-bugling and they are going to do all they could to unravel them to everybody to see”.
Also speaking during the Town Hall Meeting, the Executive Director/Project Manager of WAMAC, Zubair Abdurra’uf Idiris, expressed worry that corruption has beclouded all facet of Nigerians lives and activities, which calls for pragmatic approach to tackle it.
Reading the communique at the end of the meeting, Idiris urged the federal government, to henceforth stop the unilateral State Pardons for those accused of corrupt practices.
He appreciated the efforts of The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Kano state pensioners for the landmark judgment in which housing estates illegally build with pension funds were confiscated.
The meeting recognized the enormous tasks of fighting corruption and called on the citizens to join the efforts to curtail the menace of corruption.
The Executive Director said, the meeting resolved, that, community should rise up and expose corrupt practices in their domain through awareness in rural and urban communities to inculcate ‘virtues of societal norms and values’ in the administration of local governments funds in Kano state.
Participants x-rayed monumental corruption as a Global phenomenon and frowns at corruption in Nigeria despite laws and agencies fighting corruption due to inability to implement laws and policies.
The meeting urged Community Based Organizations (CBO’s), Journalists and the society to report alleged corrupt persons to anti-corruption agencies anonymous channels, ‘The Eagle eye app’ of the EFCC among others.
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