The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) has said that a forensic analysis carried out has confirmed that the 2017 viral video that captured a former Governor of the state, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, allegedly receiving bundles of dollar notes from a contractor and stuffing the money inside his flowing dress known as ‘babanriga’ was not doctored.
While the former governor debunked the content of the videos, the Kano State House of Assembly subsequently set up a committee to investigate the allegations but the committee is yet to submit its findings, however, a new assembly was reportedly inaugurated on Tuesday July 4.
DailyTrust reports that the Chairman of the agency, Barrister Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, confirmed the authenticity of the video while speaking at “A One Day Public Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Crusade in Kano”, on Wednesday, July 5. He said since the release of the footages, people have been challenging him to prove the innocence or otherwise, of the former governor in the matter.
He added that his commission commenced investigation in 2018 but could not go far because Ganduje, who was governor at the time, had immunity.
On June 14, Ganduje asked a Kano State High Court to perpetually restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating him over the video clips which showed him allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from a contractor. In a suit filed before the high court, the former Attorney General of the State asked the court to restrain the anti-graft commission from probing Ganduje until a suit between the former governor and the publisher of the Daily Nigerian, Jafaar Jafaar, was determined.
The EFCC is the only defendant in the suit. Ganduje, in the suit with the EFCC as the only respondent, through the former Kano attorney general, asked the court to declare that the invitation and interrogation of the state universal basic education board (SUBEB) chairman and accountant general of the state in connection to the video was illegal.