After inviting the wife of Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has extended an invitation to a former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The Kano first lady, Hafsat Ganduje, was invited following a recent petition by her first son, Abdulaziz Ganduje.
Sources familiar with the development told DAILY NIGERIAN that Mr Kwankwaso, who is the political archenemy of Mrs Ganduje’s husband, was invited in order to “strike a balance”.
According to the sources, the anti-graft agency dished out the two invitations in the same week for political correctness rather than merit in the case against Mr Kwankwaso.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, the former governor risks arrest for shunning the invitation to answer questions on abuse of public office, diversion public funds, and unjust allocation of public houses to his cronies.
According to the report, the EFCC is acting on a petition filed against Mr Kwankwaso in 2015 by Concerned Kano State Workers and Pensioners, alleging that Mr Kwankwaso violated the Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law of 2007 in the management of pension remittances amounting to about N10 billion contributed between 2011 and 2015.
According to the petitioners, Mr Kwankwaso had directed that pension remittances be used for housing development, largely to favour the pensioners. Then, a tripartite deal was reached between Kano State Pension Trust Funds as the investors and Kano State Investment and Property Limited and Kano State Housing Corporation Limited as developers on a 60:40 sharing ratio.
However, after contracts for the construction of 1,579 houses were awarded for the development of ”Kwankwasiya, Amana and Bandarawo Cities”, the petitioners alleged, Mr Kwankwaso “manipulated” the process to terminate the term of the agreement and made outright allocations in favour of his aide and cronies.
The alleged manipulation happened in May 2015, the month Mr Kwankwaso left office as Kano’s governor.
EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwajuren, did not comment on both cases when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Monday.
