Governor Ganduje Kano
Ganduje:
Governor Ganduje Kano
Ganduje: CISLAC Demands Probe over $5m Bribery
Allegation
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the
National Contact for Transparency International (TI), expresses
concern over the committee set up by the Kano State House of
Assembly to investigate the recent $5million bribery allegation
attributed to the State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as
displayed in a widely shared video clip.
While we commend the effort and ability of the Kano State House
of Assembly at setting up an ad hoc committee to investigate the
alleged bribery, we are worried that the outcome of such
investigation would not command public trust and credibility
respect except if handled by independent and competent ICT
professionals with track record of integrity.
We are confident an independent inquiry outside the
instrumentality of Kano State governance structure will to a large
extent assure Nigerians of fearless fact-findings on the true
nature of the video clip in fulfilment of the Federal Government’s
readiness to combat corruption within and outside the ruling party.
We must, therefore, reiterate that anything short of an independent
investigation would seem stage-managed before the public.
We are also not unaware of the infringement of human rights,
intimidation and harassment of the whistle-blowers and citizens who
stepped out to peacefully protest this allegation against the
Governor. We find this disheartening and reiterates our persistent
demand for the adoption of a Whistle-blower Protection Law.
Citizens’ right to freedom of association and expression should in
no way be muzzled in this issue.
We call on the President and the Inspector General of Police to
guarantee the rights of the people for a peaceful protest and
ensure lives are secured.
We call for the Governor to immediately step aside to allow high
level transparency, accountability and rule of law in the process
of the investigation and prevent possible influence of the
“fact-findings”. This will guarantee fairness and discourage undue
interference in the investigation.
We call on the National Assembly and anti-corruption agencies to
live up to the expectations and trust placed in them by Nigerians
in ensuring perpetrators of corrupt practice are brought to book,
while guaranteeing adequate protection for whistle-blowing effort
through enabling policies implementation and transition into
legislation.
We also call on the Ruling Party to stay silent on the issue if
the party is really going to be believed that it is fighting
corruption.
CISLAC remains committed to monitoring the government at all
levels to ensure that she fulfils her promises to the citizens of
our great country.
Signed
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director, CISLAC