Where I fault Ganduje bribe video By Gara Gombe

After watching the video released by online publisher, Jafaar
Jafaar, on the alleged receipt of bribe money to the time of $5
billion by the current Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar
Ganduje, I made some observations which I kept to myself.

I was actually on my way out of the country and because of my
relationship with the people of Kano, the government and the
proprietor of the online medium, I decided to give the video a
second look beyond a casual glance.

But as fate would have it, I later travelled to the United
States of America and the issue came up in my discussion with a
friend of mine who is a private investigator and an expert in
motion pictures analyses which further reinforced my doubts
compelling me to come up with this piece.

Having worked in government and particularly at the Kano
Government House at the same time with time Jafaar as aides to then
governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, I can say without any iota of
prevarication that I understand both the workings of government and
the circumstances that could trigger such interventions.

But I will base my conclusions on the observations by the motion
picture analyst.

The first observation that raises dust over the credibility of
the entire video clip is the manner its intended release was
advertised.

Weeks before the release of the video clip, Daily Nigerian
whetted the appetite of its readers and multimedia viewers that it
was about to release the video of a certain top politician north of
Nigeria whose hands have been caught in the cookie jar.

Later it dropped the hint that it is the Kano State governor
that was involved and that the revelation that would come out via
the video was going to be explosive!

The process was no different from the promos that preceded an
upcoming thriller to be shown at cinema houses.

The question is, how can a journalist give advance notice that
he is going to release an explosive news item, in this case a video
clip, when he knows that the document has the potential of putting
him in harm’s way?

If a crime is committed and a journalist has it on tape, he will
not go and start test running it to gauge public opinion before
releasing it.

When The News magazine published the expose on Salisu Buhari
which saw him resigning as Speaker of the Federal House of
Representatives it did not go about ringing bells of attention
before the publication.

This raises a moral and credibility question because it is
either he is giving the notice because he wants to negotiate and
collect money which is blackmail or the action is borne out of
professional deficiency.

When my friend watched the first and second videos, he gave me
professional preliminary explanation centered on three
perspectives, the motive for releasing the video; the content and
the implications.

On the motive, certain issues came up. Who is the person that
released the video? Which organization does he work for? Is it
possible that he could be used either directly or indirectly by
some politician somewhere to get at the governor? Is it possible
that the video may be a ploy to attract grants from international
organizations especially in the United States, Europe or in other
parts of the world? Could Ja’afar be trying to use such a video or
story to seek for asylum in another country by releasing the clip
just to claim that his life is in danger? What are his antecedents
in the journalism industry in Nigeria?

All these would come to bear in establishing the motive and
credibility of the source.

The second aspect he said are the faces in the video. If it is a
contractor that is handing over the money to the governor, who is
that contractor? Why was his face not shown? When he met the
governor, was he representing himself or representing a group of
contractors? And if he is representing other contractors, how could
those who are beneficiaries of the system go and organize
themselves to commit a crime against their benefactor? Because, a
giver of a bribe and a taker are all guilty. If can they all go and
sit and organize themselves like a criminal ring just to implicate
somebody that means there is a premeditated course of action to set
up the governor and tarnish his image.

Again, can a governor in Nigeria sit down in his office or in a
hotel or any location and be collecting such a huge amount of money
in bits and pieces to the extent of raising his inner dress?

These certainly do not add up. Again, the video does not show
the face of the giver, only showing the face of the taker but in
establishing a case such as this, the giver’s face must also be
seen otherwise it would be difficult to establish that a crime was
committed.

Then from the video, it is obvious the shots were not taken
directly from the body of the giver of the money because if it is
taken directly from the giver of money, the image would not have
been that close.

The only way the person giving the bribe money could have been
able to record it is if it was done either through a pen or eye
glasses camera and if it is a woman, it could be through an ear
ring, necklace or even a finger ring camera.

A thorough scrutiny of the angles will show that none of these
items was used to record the video; it most probably would have
been taken by a third party.

If that is the case, how can a third party come with a camera
and be recording a governor receiving bribe from another person in
such a circumstance and the governor will sit down and be receiving
instructions from them?

Another thing is where the alleged offense committed is
classified. Is it under federal or state offense? If it is under
the state, the case may not go far due to the caliber of witnesses
that may be called who may be reluctant given the political
coloration of the case.

If however it is classified under federal it would take a
prolonged legal battle to conclude.

This is because the procedure regarding the release of the video
and the content cannot stand rigorous scrutiny as it has so many
minuses in it.

For Ja’afar to convince people beyond reasonable doubt that his
cause was genuine his background and lifestyle have to be subjected
to public scrutiny.

Issues like, what is the source of his income, what is his
lifestyle would have to be laid bare.

This is because from what could be gleaned so far, both his
lifestyle and the source of his income are not strong enough to
make him invulnerable to be used by the political opponents of the
governor.

To worsen the matter, Ja’afar said he submitted the video for
screening to Amnesty International and other media agencies which
confirmed the genuineness of the clip.

To this one may ask, is Amnesty International a video vetting
agency and since when have media houses begun to screen the
editorial content of one another to certify authenticity?

All these are minuses for what is been sold as an
anti-corruption expose.

Gara Gombe wrote this piece from Casablanca,
Morocco

KNSG Pays N9bb as Outstanding Pension

….

As the State inaugurates new committee to settle more
outstanding benefits for Pensioners:

Committed to improve the wellbeing of its teeming Pensioners,
Kano State Government has paid over N9 billion to 5,388 Pensioners
as their outstanding pension inherited from the previous
administration.

This was disclosed by the State Deputy Governor Dr. Nasiru Yusuf
Gawuna while inaugurating an eight Member Committee for the payment
of outstanding retirement benefits for Pensioners in the State.

Dr. Nasiru Gawuna explained that the administration had also
maintained a status quo in sustaining the payment of Monthly
Pension at the sum of N1.2 billion every Month to Pensioners across
the State.

“A part from this, there is also a Committee that has been
constituted by the State Government to ensure speedy payment of
their outstanding retirement benefits covering Gratuities, Pensions
Arrears and death benefits.

“that is also an effort by His Excellency Dr. Abdullahi Umar
Ganduje to see that the various problems faced by the Pensioners
have been solved” he disclosed.

On the new Committee, Gawuna maintained that the administration
of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has shown so much concern for the
Committee to be inaugurated so that Government would be able to
address other problems faced by Pensioners.

He said “His Excellency has assured that he is going to set
aside some money to make sure that the intended goals have been
achieved.

“that is why he has requested us to inaugurate this Committee
which comprises of experts of high integrity and I am sure they
will do well in trying to see that those that deserved to be paid
first are been considered”

Gawuna further urged Members of the Committee to use their
experiences and talents to work deligently for the overall success
of the exercise.

“I equally want to solicite the understanding and cooperation of
all Pensioners, Stakeholders and people in general towards
complementing effort of the Committee Members in discharging their
assigned responsibilities” he added.

According to the Deputy Governor, the Committee has Hajiya Amina
Musa, Permanent Secretary Establishment, office of the Head of
Civil Service as Chair Person while Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir,
Chairman National Labour Congress, Kano State Chapter will serve as
Member.

Other Members of the Committee include Comrade Salisu Ahmed
Gwale, Chairman National Union of Pensioners, Kano Branch, *Comrade
Hambali Abubakar*, Chairman National Union of Teachers, Kano wing
and *Isma’ila Musa*, Director final account, Kano State Ministry of
finance.

The rest were Hajiya Mairo Umar Tanko from the State Audit as
Member while Alh. Musa Tanko Garko, Director Pension, Kano State
Pension Funds Trustees will serve as Secretary.

Responding, the Chair Person of the Committee Hajiya Amina Musa*
extended their appreciation to the State Governor Dr. Abdullahi
Umar Ganduje for finding them worthy of the new assignment which
she said has gone along way to show a clear testimony of government
demonstration of commitment and concern for the wellfare of
Pensioners.

“this is a testimony that shows that wheather you are a Civil
Servant or a retired Pensioner, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje gets you
in his mind through his able subordinate, by extention our Head of
Civil Service who takes care of all our needs and today workers are
smilling and today again the Pensioners will not only smile but
will jump and praise” she emphasized.

She then reiterated their commitment to ensure judicious use of
the funds and follow the simple step of first come first serve so
as to wipe tears from the eyes of the long awaited Pensioners.

The Committee was given eight terms of references to guide it
and come up with  comprehensive procedures that would address
the issue of outstanding pension and gratuities in the State.

Deputy Governor’s office