Ganduje’s Alleged Bribe: Publisher of Online Medium Appears before Kano Assembly

By Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

The Kano State House of Assembly Thursday commenced hearing on the video clips published by an online newspaper showing the state Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje allegedly receiving bribe amounting to about $5 million from contractors in the state.

While appearing before a committee set up by the Assembly to investigate the allegation, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the online medium, Mr. Jaafar Jaafar, was asked by the chairman of the committee, Baffa Babba Dan-Agundi, to narrate how he got the clip and the investigative processes he followed to authenticate the video before publishing.

Jaafar said he got the video from one of the state government contractors, who complained that the governor allegedly received between 15 and 25 per cent kickbacks from them.

He added that he had to consult Amnesty International and other certified graphic experts before he arrived at the conclusion that the video clips are genuine.

“To uphold the ethics of journalism, I had to take a long time to scrutinise the video clips. I consulted Amnesty International officials and other graphic experts to ascertain the genuineness of the video.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no political undertone in this issue. I turned down several offers to trade the video but I refused,” he said.

Jaafar also restated his stance that the video was genuine, was not doctored and not cloned, urging the committee to be fair in the investigation for the interest of the public and development of the state.

In his response, Dan-Agundi asked Jaafar to submit the copies of the video clips for further investigation.

He disclosed that the committee would invite the lawyers of both Ganduje and Jaafar, adding that the duo would also be asked to provide their certified graphic video experts to study the videos in the next session which would be announced in due course.

“We will announce the date and time for the next sitting. We will communicate to both parties in due course. You will be asked to provide your graphic experts and lawyers for the next session.

“We are doing this in the spirit of justice and fairness. We will do our best to ensure justice to both parties,” Dan-Agundi said.

On Monday, October 15, a member representing Warawa Constituency, Labaran Madari, while raising a matter of urgent public importance, moved that the Assembly should investigate the authenticity of the video and take a stand.

Other members of the committee are Labaran Madari (Warawa), Garba Gafasa (Ajingi), and Zubairu Masu (Sumaila).