There was confusion in the Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Monday following the alleged suspension of the national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, from the party.
Ganduje was allegedly suspended by members of his ward, the Ganduje Ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State on Monday.
His alleged suspension followed purported corruption charges leveled against him by the state government.
The Executive Council of Ganduje Ward led by Haruna Gwanjo disclosed the suspension during a press briefing in Kano on Monday.
Gwanjo said that the former governor has to clear his name of corruption allegations regarding his long-standing dollar case.
He said the ward accused the former governor of gross misconduct and misappropriation of public funds during his administration in the state.
Gwanjo revealed that members of the ward resolved to suspend Ganduje’s membership after a vote of no confidence was passed on him due to his alleged inability to clear his name from “a wide range of allegations of corruption, particularly the widely celebrated dollar video.”
But in a swift reaction, the Kano State Working Committee of the APC said it had sanctioned the Ganduje Ward Leaders who suspended the national chairman of the party.
The Kano State Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Abbas, who disclosed this to newsmen in Kano, on Monday, said the Ganduje Ward leaders had been suspended for six months for anti-party activities.
Abbas said the State Working Committee slammed the suspension order having adopted the decision of the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Committee of the party.
“We have evidence of meetings between the state government officials and those that suspended the national chairman, and the state working committee has agreed to sanction them for six months and they stand suspended,” he said.
A viral video had captured Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollar notes as a bribe from a man said to be a contractor and stuffing them in the pockets of his flowing gown.
The video, which garnered widespread attention in 2017, has been the subject of intense scrutiny.
Ganduje had denied the content of the video when it first surfaced and maintained his innocence but years after, the New Nigeria People’s Party’s administration of Governor Abba Yusuf revisited the case, vowing to prosecute the ex-governor.
The Kano High Court would arraign Ganduje on Wednesday on charges bordering on allegations of bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of funds, including the purported acceptance of $413,000 and N1.38bn in bribes.
The Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Haruna Dederi, had said Ganduje would be arraigned alongside his wife and six others.
The Yusuf administration, which initiated the criminal suit against the eight respondents, had declared its readiness to present 15 witnesses to testify before Justice Usman Na’aba of State High Court.
The accused individuals, as listed in the writ of summon, include Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Hafsat Umar, Abubakar Bawuro, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd, and Lesage General Enterprises.
“It is very true. We have filed the case and it’s going to be held on the 17th of April, 2024. What I cannot confirm is whether he is served or not, but he will definitely be served,” he said.
Dederi further highlighted the significance of accountability in governance, remarking, “What he (Ganduje) doesn’t understand is that you cannot run away from the evil day, it will definitely come to you, and this will even serve as a deterrence to all of us that are also in government now.”
The commissioner also addressed the jurisdictional aspect of the case, asserting, “He was saying that we can’t prosecute him, forgetting that the offence also falls under the category of the state offences,” he said.
“It’s not totally a federal affair and we have even appealed the Justice Liman ruling on that.”
