NEWS
Gan$ Video: Kano Gov Urges EFCC To Release Report
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been urged to make public the result of its probe into the alleged dollar bribery video involving immediate-past governor of Kano Sate, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, made the call for action against the Acting Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in a statement on Sunday through his spokesperson, Sanusi Tofa.
According to Yusuf, Ganduje ought to be ashamed of himself and ready to explain his action to the law, as against running his mouth on non-existent failure in the current administration.
It stated, “For whatever option, the Kano State Government would advise the acting National Chairman of APC to show cause why his name, that of his family, and the entire people of Kano should permanently be erased from the global embarrassment that the dollar video has generated.
“The administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf emphasised that it would leave no stone unturned to pursue the dollar video scandal to a logical conclusion.
“He, however, requested the release of the forensic investigation conducted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission on ‘Gandollar saga’ in 2018, for public consumption.”
Recall that the two politicians have been at daggers drawn which saw Yusuf last week set up two panels to probe Ganduje’s eight-year administration.
In addition, Yusuf’s government also filed criminal charges against Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat, son, Umar, and five others.
However, Ganduje’s stance on the development was that his successor was chasing shadows.
He described the move against him as a diversionary tactic to cover “weak governance” in Kano.
On his part, Yusuf, going by the Sunday statement, insisted that “Ganduje presided over two unproductive tenures characterised with siphoning public resources, inability to cater for the needs of Kano’s population, nepotism and bloodshed that left many families in the mood of melancholy.
“Our eight months in office have remarkably outweighed Ganduje’s eight wasted years of political caricature and maladministration by all standards,” it averred.
The incumbent governor of Kano State would rather that his predecessor put his acts together to defend his battered image at the court, instead of further exposing his impunity on the media space.
“No amount of media campaign would hinder the process of bringing Ganduje to book on the glaring cases of corruption filed against him,” he said.
Yusuf said he was surprised “that Ganduje could yet muster the courage to defend himself in the media, despite the embarrassing video clip where you were caught, red-handed, stocking his large agbada pockets with dollars, a supposed kickback from a contractor; and other corrupt practices massively associated with your eight-year tenure during which you ran the affairs of Kano state as a family enterprise.
“We wish to reaffirm the present administration’s resolve and readiness to make Ganduje and his co-travellers face the full wrath of the law for their intentional wrong doings.”
The statement further recalled that Ganduje also claimed that Kano Anti-corruption Agency’s latest plan to probe him on the dollar video and cases of money laundering was an act of disregard for the rule of law, citing the judgment of Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, which declared that only Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, as well as, the EFCC, have the constitutional powers to investigate him; but described such claims as frivilous and the cry of a dying dog.
On the allegations of poor governance in Kano despite the increase in federal allocation, Yusuf claimed that his administration was still struggling to recover from a state of bankruptcy Ganduje allegedly plunged the state in the last eight years.
“We wish to warn Ganduje to stop dragging the name of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into his corruption saga, as we believe that our able and well respected President does not interfere in cases before the courts of competent jurisdiction, as we witnessed during our trying times at the Supreme Court when he allowed justice to prevail for the opposition parties.”
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has inaugurated a 12-member committee tasked with recovering government vehicles reportedly in private hands.
The committee, led by Kelly Okungbowa, has been given a two-week mandate to retrieve the vehicles and ensure their return to the state government.
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Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Benin City, Governor Okpebholo emphasized the importance of accountability in the management of public resources.
He urged the committee to carry out its assignment thoroughly and within the bounds of the law.
In his response, Okungbowa expressed gratitude to the governor for entrusting the team with the assignment, vowing to deliver results within the stipulated timeframe.
“A lot of vehicles used by the past administration are missing, as those in custody of the vehicles have refused to return them,” Okungbowa said.
“The governor deemed it fit to inaugurate us today with a mandate to recover all government vehicles in private hands.”
The committee, which includes representatives from Edo’s three senatorial districts, is set to investigate and recover the vehicles based on credible intelligence already at their disposal.
“We already have vital information regarding some persons still holding government vehicles,” Okungbowa stated. “We will do the job according to the law, and both the government and the people will be satisfied with the outcome.”
He also called on members of the public to assist the committee by providing information about any government vehicles that may still be in private possession.
“We want to appeal to members of the public who might be aware of anyone still keeping government vehicles in their houses to please inform us to enable the committee to recover such for the Edo State Government,” Okungbowa said.
The committee’s vice chairman, Rt. Hon. Victor Edoror, a former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, will work alongside other members to ensure the success of the initiative. The public can reach the committee at 08110165121.
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