Kano assembly bent on probing Ganduje despite court ruling

The Kano house of assembly says it will not stop its probe of Abdullahi Ganduje, the state governor, over a video of him allegedly collecting bribe.

After videos of the governor allegedly receiving kickbacks went viral, the assembly set up a panel to investigate the issue.

A high court in Kano had on Monday, ordered the ad hoc committee set by the assembly to stop investigating the allegations against Ganduje following a legal action undertaken by a pro-democracy group called Lawyers For Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria.

However, Baffa Dan’Agundi, chairman of the committee, on Tuesday said the court order did not stop them from their investigation but only asked the committee to maintain the status quo.

He cited sections 128 and 129 of the Nigerian constitution, which provides that house of assembly has the jurisdiction to probe corruption allegations.

He added that the committee will appear before the court on Monday for hearing.

“We have received a court order that we should stop investigating the video clips showing governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, allegedly collecting bribe,” Dan’Agundi said.

“We had a meeting today at the assembly and according to our understanding, the court didn’t stop us from investigating the allegations. We understand that the court only said status quo be maintained. As such, we will continue with our work.

“The court set Monday for us to appear before it for hearing. We will respect the court and go with our documents that justify our position and jurisdiction to investigate this matter.”