Ganduje Preaches Against Corruption, After Allegedly Embezzling Billions In Kano

Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, has described weak institutions to be inimical to the war against corruption in the country.

The ruling party chairman said the fight against graft would only succeed when democratic institutions are strengthened.

The former Kano state governor spoke on Wednesday during the High Level Meeting with national executives of political parties and other stakeholders, organised by The Kukah Centre ,in collaboration with the European Union, EU, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Not a few Nigerians watching the polity said his remark contradicts his perception as a very corrupt public official, saying he’s not qualified to speak on the issue.

The magazine reported that the APC Chairman has been dragged to court by the Kano state government, alongside his wife and six other government officials, who served in his administration for allegedly mismanaging funds belonging to the state.

Last week, Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu, the judge presiding over the corruption case against Ganduje refused to issue a bench warrant against the former governor, citing the political tension in the state.

Speaking yesterday during the event organised by the Kukah Centre and EU,  said corruption must be fought serioulsy to prevent it from destroying the nation’s democracy.

Part of what Ganduje said, “I think that the major problems we have is that of weak institutions, because we are just going on a vicious circle of weak institutions and unless we break that vicious circle to make our institutions strong ,we are just leaving the politicians to do anything.

“Political parties are weak and because of the weak institutions, corruption thrives

“Let us stop blaming the politicians.do they win elections free? Even the security that oversees election at the polling booth,are they free?” He asked.

The politician said voters must also be blamed for their actions which he noted,encourge corruption in offices.

“Some voters carry their voters card and insist that unless they are paid,they won’t cast their votes.That is vote buying.

“Yes,the politicians embezzle public funds but did you ask them how much they spent to get to that office? Did you ask them how much they spent to come in and how much they spend for the sustainability of that office?

“Unless you x-ray all these institutions,we may not get to the root issue. So we have to develop strong instructions.

“A minister is jailed for embezzling money but did we follow the system how he got the money? Where is the due process? Did he follow the due process? Where is the accountant? Is the person who wrote the memo jailed,too?”

The Kana state government had on Tuesday  filed fresh charges against the former governor, accusing him of financial miscondcut involving a substantial amount of money while he presided over the affairs of the state between 2015 and 2023.

In the charge sheet with case No. K/143c/24, filed two days ago, the state government accused Ganduje and former Commissioner for Justice, Musa Lawan, of criminal conspiracy and misappropriation contrary to Section 308, and punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code (as amended) CAP 105, Vol. 2, the Laws of Kano State of Nigeria.

According to the charge sheet, Ganduje and Lawan were accused of conspiring to misappropriate, divert, and convert ₦240m for personal use.

The charge sheet states, “The duo are standing trial for dishonestly, fraudulently, and without reasonable justification, in the abuse of your respective offices, conspired between yourselves, misappropriated, diverted, and converted the sum of Two Hundred and Forty Million Naira (N240,000,000.00) to finance purely personal and private cases for your own personal and private benefit, thereby causing wrongful gain to yourselves and wrongful loss to the Government and people of Kano State.”