Abdullahi Ganduje, the former governor of Kano, has filed a request with a high court in the state seeking a permanent injunction against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from inviting or investigating him regarding video clips from 2018. These clips allegedly showed him receiving dollars from a contractor and stuffing them into his traditional dress, known as ‘babanriga’.
While Ganduje has denied the authenticity of the videos, the Kano House of Assembly established a committee to investigate the allegations. The committee has not yet submitted its report, and a new assembly was inaugurated on Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, the former attorney general of Kano asked the court to prevent the anti-graft agency from investigating him until a separate lawsuit between Ganduje and Jafaar Jafaar, the publisher of Daily Nigerian, is resolved. The EFCC is the sole defendant in this case.
Ganduje, through his former attorney general, requested the court to declare the invitation and interrogation of the chairman of the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the accountant general of Kano in connection with the video as illegal.
The prayers included in the lawsuit state that the EFCC cannot exercise its investigative powers under the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act 2004 until the Kano State House of Assembly concludes its investigation. It also argues that the EFCC cannot exercise its investigative powers until a separate case challenging the authenticity of the video clips, currently before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is resolved.
