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Kano anti-graft agency arrests 2 Kano Emirate’s officials over alleged N150m land scam
Nasiru Yusuf
The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) has arrested two officials of the Kano Emirate Council for allegedly collecting a N15 million kickback after selling some plots of land at the sum of N150 million without the state government’s approval.
In an exclusive interview with KANO FOCUS on Tuesday, chairman of the agency Muhuyi Magaji Rimin-Gado, said the two suspects, who were arrested on Monday have been quizzed and released.
He said the suspects were members of the Kano emirate’s finance committee, constituted by Emir Muhammad Sanusi II to supervise the construction of houses on the said parcels of land, which are located at Bubbugaje and Hotoro quarters in the city.
However, Mr Rimin-Gado alleged that instead of supervising the construction of structures, the emirate officials sold the land plots at the sum of N150 million and collected N15 million from the amount as “kickback”, without the approval of the Kano state government.
The PCACC chair added that when the issue was first reported to the agency, a query was sent to the suspects on January 10, 2020, demanding explanations on who authorized them to sell the land plots, but their lawyers advised them not to respond.
“To the best of my knowledge, emirate’s officials are state government employees. They should abide by public service rules and financial regulations. But palace officials are pretending to be from an independent institution.
“Let me tell you, this investigation has nothing to do with the earlier investigation of Kano emirate’s misappropriation.
“In fact, an aged woman from Hotoro quarters complained that Kano state governor (Abdullahi Ganduje) has sold a land belonging to the emirate council, but when we investigated the matter, we found that, it was sold by these persons.
“The commission has requested all the remaining emirs to submit the list of landed properties belonging to their respective emirates,” Mr Rimin-gado said.
A senior official of the commission who does not want his name to be published, identified one of the suspects as Dan’Isan Lapai, who was said to be a consultant to the Kano emirate.
The official also hinted to this newspaper that the commission has summoned another traditional title holder Professor Isa Hashim (Jarman Kano), who is expected to give a statement to the agency on Tuesday.
Officials of the Kano Emirate did not respond to phone calls and text messages sent to them by KANO FOCUS seeking comments on this report.
However, a source at the palace told KANO FOCUS that Emir Muhammad Sanusi ll and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje are billed to meet President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock presidential villa for reconciliation on Tuesday.
Relationship between Messrs Sanusi and Ganduje has become sour after the latter accused the former of supporting his opponent Abba Yusuf during the 2019 governorship election in the state.
Mr Ganduje has split the historic emirate into five apparently to whittle-down Mr Sanusi’s influence.
But the Kano Emirates’ four kingmakers have filed a lawsuit before a court challenging Mr Ganduje’s decision to create new emirates.
Headlines
Breaking: Kano High Court affirms Ganduje’s suspension
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano state high Court has affirmed the suspension of the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as member of the party.
KANO FOCUS reports that the court presided over by Justice Usman Malam Na’abba on Tuesday affirmed the suspension following an exparte motion filed by Dr. Ibrahim Sa’ad Esq on behalf of two executive members APC Ganduje ward, Dawakin-Tofa local government area, the assistant secretary, Laminu Sani and legal adviser Haladu Gwanjo (plaintiffs) who were part of the nine ward executive who suspended Abdullahi Ganduje on Monday.
The order followed an ex parte motion filed Haladu Gwanjo and Laminu Sani by their counsel Ibrahim Sa’ad.
The plaintiffs, who identified as executive members of APC Ganduje ward, said they brought the motion on behalf of the executive members of the ward.
Gwanjo, who identified as the party’s ward Legal Adviser, was the one that announced the suspension of Ganduje two days ago.
Subsequently, the court ordered, that henceforth, Ganduje should desist from presiding over all affairs of the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC.
The State Working Committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kano had announced the suspension of ward party leaders who earlier announced the suspension of Ganduje.
Recall that the leadership of the party at Ganduje ward in Dawkin Tofa Local Government area announced the suspension of the party’s national chairman, citing corruption charges filed against him by the government.
Headlines
Court asks Ganduje to stop parading himself as APC member, affirm suspension
Headlines
Dangote crashes Diesel price to N1,000 per litre
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
In an unprecedented move, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a further reduction of the price of diesel from 1200 to 1,000 naira per litre.
KANO FOCUS reports that the announcement was contained in a statement issued by Dangote group on Tuesday.
While rolling out the products, the refinery supplied at a substantially reduced price of N1,200 per litre three weeks ago, representing over 30 per cent reduction from the previous market price of about N1,600 per litre.
This significant reduction in the price of diesel, at Dangote Petroleum Refinery, is expected to positively affect all the spheres of the economy and ultimately reduce the high inflation rate in the country.