Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the charges against him for allegedly collecting $200,000 from a contractor are “trumped-up”.
Ganduje, immediate former governor of Kano, spoke in reaction to an eight-count charge filed against him by the state government.
In 2018, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, published a video of Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from contractors, which he stuffed into his “babanriga”, a traditional outfit.
The newspaper reported that the former governor requested $5 million as a bribe from the contractors who recorded the video.
In a statement on Friday, Edwin Olofu, chief press secretary (CPS) to Ganduje, quoted him as saying that Abba Yusuf, the governor of Kano, is using diversionary tactics to cover up his failure.
The former governor said the Kano government should take notice of a pronouncement of the federal high court that held that the alleged offence is a federal one that could only be prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF).
“In their desperate attempt to malign me and my family, they either forgot or probably cannot conduct themselves by the dictate of the law,” the statement reads.
“They failed to take judicial notice of the pronouncement of the Federal High Court in Kano which ruled that the so-called offence I am being accused of was a federal offence that could be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Rather than join issues with my traducers in Kano over the trumped-up charges levelled against me, I would rather implore them to redirect their energies towards uplifting the plight of our people in Kano.
“They still have the opportunity to revert to my blueprint for the sustainable growth and development of Kano state. It is not yet late in the day for them to emulate my developmental strides.”
The APC national chairman said his tenure as governor of Kano was devoid of any wrongdoings.
