By Isah Aliyu Chiroma
Two anti-graft agencies have begun scrutinizing the activities of Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, chairman of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, shortly after he confirmed that the video showing ex-governor Abdullahi Ganduje pocketing alleged kickbacks —in wads of dollars— was not doctored.
The intense scrutiny, led by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), is believed to be a witch hunt masquerade as investigation due to the history of animosity between the Kano anti-graft chair and Mr Ganduje.
“The Code of Conduct Bureau is investigating a case of alleged violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers against a staff of your organization by name Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado,” CCB wrote in a letter to the Kano anti-corruption commission on August 14.
The CCB asked for Mr Rimingado’s letter of appointment, payslips from July 2020 to 2023 and records of service.
The bad blood between the two men dates back to 2021 when Mr Ganduje, governor at the time, suspended Mr Rimingado through the state assembly. The allegations leveled against him were unclear but he was accused of rejecting an accountant sent to the agency.
Mr Rimingado, on his part, claimed that his investigation into dubious contracts allocated to the first family, which the governor could not tolerate, led to his suspension.
Two years after his suspension, Mr Rimingado was ultimately fired by Mr Ganduje in January 2023, a decision that the embattled Kano anti-graft chair successfully contested in court.
However, Mr Ganduje continued to defy the court order asking him to reinstate Mr Rimingado until Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was elected governor after the March polls. The new governor immediately complied with the court order and reinstated Mr Rimingado to his former position.
In May, the Kano anti-corruption boss revealed that forensic analysis of the viral video showing ex-governor Ganduje pocketing dollar bills — presumably bribes — found that it was indeed genuine and not doctored.
Mr Rimingado, who describes himself as a passionate anti-corruption advocate, said he had received numerous calls to probe the dollar video, which had been a constant source of shame and embarrassment to Kano state, and tarnished the state’s reputation within and outside the country.
The anti-corruption boss, upon his reinstatement, swiftly uncovered billions of state funds allegedly looted by Bala Inuwa Muhammed and his family — strong allies of Mr Ganduje — in Kano State Agricultural Supply Company (KASCO).
The matter is already in court where Mr Inuwa was charged with diverting N3.3 billion from KASCO account to his personal account and his son, Bala Inuwa Muhammad Jr’s account, “without any justifiable reason,” according to court filings seen by Peoples Gazette.
Other beneficiaries of the state funds were Mrs Halima Bala Inuwa, Najib Lawan Muhammad and Incorporated Trustees of Association of Compassionate Friends, all listed as 3rd to 5th defendants.
The suit, instituted by the Kano state government, is believed to be on the orders of the anti-graft boss who is now receiving heat from EFCC and CCB as payback for probing Mr Ganduje’s allies.
Because of his tight relationship with President Bola Tinubu and chairmanship role in APC, Mr Ganduje, who no longer enjoys governorship immunity, may seem untouchable, but Kano’s anti-graft agency is determined to pluck out his corrupt allies considered low-hanging fruits.
The abrupt actions taken by the EFCC and CCB to start an investigation into Mr Rimingado barely three months after his reinstatement are stoking fears that the agencies were no longer independent and have turned into pawns and tools of oppression in the hands of whoever occupies the presidency.
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