Trouble In Kano: Governor Considers EFCC Petition Against Kwankwaso

Information available to 247ureports.com indicates that the ongoings in the northern commercial State of Kano may soon hit its explosion limit judging by the unfolding exchange between the two major political blocks in the State. The two major blocks which comprise of the present governor of the State, Malam Gaduje and the immediate past governor of the State, Senator Kwankwaso have found themselves at daggers drawn shortly following the swearing-in ceremony of May 29, 2015. The relationship has deteriorated to the level of outright combat by all means necessary. To this extent, the governor’s team has begun compilation of financial crimes committed by the Kwankwaso administration with intention to draft a petition to be submitted to the many anti-graft agencies in the country.

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This is not minding that Governor Gaduje had served under the Kwankwaso administration as the deputy governor before being elected as the All Progressive Congress [APC] governor of Kano State. The Gaduje’s gubernatorial campaign was supported by the then outgoing governor, Malam Kwankwaso. But the present state of affairs between the two political gladiators in Kano State depicts an awaiting explosion on the offing.

Firing the first shot was the Kwankwaso’s men who took to the Radio airwaves in Kano broadcasting ‘anti-Gaduje’ programs. Retaliating, the Gaduje administration has opted to open up a can of worms on the mindboggling financial practices of the Kwankwaso administration.

Top on the list of the many financial crimes committed by the former governor of Kano and current Senator is the alleged deception to pocket the sum of N1.1billion of monies earmarked for foreign scholarships for one hundred students who were to be airlifted to Jordan to study piloting.

Towards the tail end of Kwankwaso’s administration – as Kwankwaso scraped around for funds to finance his presidential aspiration, he hatched a ‘program’ to offer 100 Kano state indigenes with scholarship to study piloting in Jordan at N11million for each student. According to records, Kwankwaso claimed to have paid the entire N11million for each of the 100 students. The student were then airlifted to Jordan. They began school. But it did not last. Kwankwaso did not remit the said money to the school.

So shortly after Kwankwaso stepped down from the seat of governor, the piloting school began requesting for monies to be deposited as initial payment. And when the requests reached the Gaduje administration, surprised, they called the attention of Senator Kwankwaso – but the Senator was not responsive. The Gaduje administration conducted a cursory inquiry and discovered that the N1.1billion was released to the governor but it never made it to the school. The stranded students have since been sacked due to insufficient funds.

Under the same theme of youth education and empowerment, the former governor launched a broad and cash intensive school of skill acquisition in Kano State – at Kura, Gabasawa, Madobi and Karfi. The four [4] locations were to train youths on – Traffic Guards, Computer and Information Technology, Sports and other skills. Available records from the state government show that an estimated N1.67billion was removed from the state treasury for the purposes of developing the school of skill acquisition. But inspection of the buildings at the 4 locations showed that no equipment were purchased or delivered to the skill acquisition buildings. “The buildings are all empty”, said a source from Badawa in Kano State who cried foul over the criminality of the skill acquisition school. The source added that the school “had no legal backing”. He explained that the school was supposed to have legal backing in order to function as a true skill acquisition school. In a sense, the skill acquisition program can be said to have never existed – and that the allocated funds were never really allocated.

In addition to the misuse of sensitive youth programs, the state government has made no secret of the mind blowing debt left behind by the Kwankwaso government. The latest figure available to 247ureports.com was N378billion in debt. The Governor of Kano State was forced to announce to the people of Kano that the Kwankwaso administration dug the state into a debt of over N300billion.

Further investigation discovered that the staggering debt left behind was not the only financial crime allegedly committed by the former governor. The Local Government Areas [LGA] of Kano State were reportedly fleeced by the Kwankwaso administration. According to our source, “no money was given to LGA, only salaries”.  The source went on to add that the then Governor Kwankwaso devised crafty mechanisms to remove monies from the LGA coffers into unknown destinations. Kwankwaso’s presidential ambitions were widely understood as the driving force behind the aggressive nature the governor guzzled public funds. The source indicated that Kwankwaso conceived a plan to refurbish 5km road in each of the 44 LGA – and each of the LGA were to contribute N2billion for the project – totalling N88billion. Available documentary evidence shows that the N88billion was removed from the LGAs. It also showed that over 90% of the monies for the said 5km road were released to the various contractors. But none of the road were ever completed. Some of the roads were never started.

“Kwankwaso utilized the 44 LGAs in Kano State as his petty cash” lamented a source who told 247ureports.com that the former governor used funds from the LGAs to finance his presidential primaries within the All Progressive Congress [APC]. Each of the LGA were asked to remit N75million each towards the Kwankwaso presidential campaign. The monies were made available to the blood brother to the former governor [Mustapha] who then converted the money to US Dollars. The converted monies were then used to ‘settle’ the delegates – at $15,000 each.

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