Kano High Court Dismisses Case Against Governor Ganduje Over Alleged Bribery Videos

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has dismissed a suit seeking an order compelling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate Governor Abdullahii Umar Ganduje for allegedly receiving bribe from a contractor.

Governor Ganduje headlined the news a couple of months ago, after a publisher with Daily Nigerian, Ja’afar Ja’afa, published a series of videos showing him receiving bribes from contractors handling projects in the state.

According to reports, Gov Ganduje received a total of $5 million in installments from contractors on several occasions.

A Kano based lawyer, Bulama Bukarti had subsequently approached Kano high court seeking an order to the EFCC to provide a report of its forensic investigation analysis of the said videos that allegedly shows Ganduje receiving bribes.

However, Justice Egwatu dismissed the case due to lack of evidence on Monday, December 16, 2019.

The judge said the evidence before the court has not shown that the EFCC has the record of the forensic analysis of the bribery video allegations.

Justice Egwuatu added that the evidence must be verifiable, and the bribery case should be given to the Kano state House of Assembly ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the matter.

“The provisions of Freedom of Information Act 2011, required that information requested must be a public record and in the custody of the instruction of the organization so requested from.

“The report ought to be given to the Kano state House of Assembly ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the matter, Egwuatu said.