45 CSOs demand EFCC investigate, prosecute Kwankwaso’s tenure as Kano Governor

…Threaten Mass Protest in Abuja if 72 Hours Deadline Not Met

Forty-five Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Justice for All (JA) has written the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the tenure of a former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso with a view to prosecuting him if indicted.

Kwankwaso, the national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), governed Kano state from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015.

Justice for All ( JA), in a letter to the EFCC, co-signed by Auwalu Ibrahim and Dr. Dave Ogbole as Chairman and Co-Chairman respectively on behalf of the 45 CSOs, said its call became necessary to ensure that the resources of Kano state are accounted for given the unprecedented hardship that the people of the state are facing.

The letter explained that the EFCC investigation it is demanding would help bridge the gap in ensuring that incidences of corruption under past administrations are investigated since the incumbent government is covering the years between Kwankwaso’s tenure and the present.

It reads, “Justice for All ( JA) is particularly demanding that the EFCC focuses attention on the management of local government allocation under Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s, internally generated revenue during his tenure and the utilisation of allocations from the Federation’s Account.

“In 2015 alone, the 44 Local Government Areas of the state received N107.29 billion in Federal Allocations but there is nothing on the ground that showed this amount was judiciously spent. The feelers in the state were that the council bosses at time remitted the money to the governor on his instructions.

“We are also seeking an investigation into the sales of Kano State Government’s assets especially the identities of those who bought the assets, the correct valuation of the assets as at the time of sale, confirmation that buyers paid for the assets, and how the proceeds from the sales of assets were spent.

“Our request for this investigation follows the discovery that the administration in question might have been involved in grand that allowed the resources of the state to be looted on a mind-boggling scale. We have cause to believe that Kwankwaso, his family members and associates might have illegally benefitted from this aberration.

“We have also noted that the state has not demonstrated a willingness to investigate the suspected corruption and theft of government resources by the past administration. The immediate past government of Abdullahi Ganduje failed to investigate Kwankwaso’s tenure(s) and the incumbent government of Governor Abba Yusuf has also not demonstrated a willingness to do so,” the group wrote in the letter.

JA urged the EFCC to do all that is necessary to make the Kwankwaso administration accountable for how Kano State resources were managed during the tenure similar to how it has gone after the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.

It said, “Justice for All (JA), hereby gives the EFCC a 48 hours ultimatum to open investigations into the tenure(s) of former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso given the serious allegations of corruption that have been levelled against his administration.

“We see this as a unique opportunity for your Commission to redeem itself as a non-politicised entity that acts on citizens’ petitions to investigate cases of corruption as opposed to being the wrong impression that people hold of the organization as an attack dog that the federal government set on those it is opposed to.

“As a show of good faith, we expect the EFCC to immediately freeze all accounts linked to Kwankwaso and his family until he returns every single penny taken from the treasure of Kano state,” the group said.