The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, has dismissed as “ridiculous and unreasonable” allegations by Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, that he (Ganduje) orchestrated a break-in at the state high court to steal sensitive documents linked to his corruption trial.
The Yusuf administration has filed multiple corruption charges against the former governor, including one accusing Ganduje, his wife Hafsat, and their son Umar of involvement in a $413,000 and N1.38bn bribery scandal.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, Ganduje ridiculed Yusuf’s claims, suggesting they undermine the governor’s ability to manage Kano’s security and judicial systems. Ganduje questioned the plausibility of miscreants selectively stealing court documents, pointing out that the government’s legal team should possess copies of any critical files.
Yusuf had earlier told reporters in Kano that “enemies of the state” had hired “undesirable elements” to vandalise the historic state high court, with the alleged aim of seizing documents related to Ganduje’s corruption cases. The governor made these remarks during an on-the-spot visit to the court, which had been damaged during recent nationwide protests against hunger.
However, Ganduje’s camp found the accusations preposterous and baseless. “It is laughable that governance has been reduced to a huge joke in Kano,” Olofu remarked. “A state government stooping so low as to suggest that demonstrators broke into a court and carefully selected documents related to the trial of the APC national chairman, handpicked them, and took them away in this digital age—no discerning mind will buy into this pedestrian propaganda.”
He further criticised the Yusuf administration for what he described as a lack of ideas in running the state, resorting instead to a steady stream of corruption allegations against Ganduje and his family, who he claimed had served Kano with diligence.
“This claim is nothing more than a desperate attempt by Governor Yusuf’s administration to divert attention from their own culpability in the violence that erupted in the state,” the statement continued. “The insinuation that such critical documents could be carted away during a protest is a clear indication of the state’s growing incompetence in handling both security and legal matters.”
Ganduje called on Governor Yusuf to recognise the weight and consequences of his words and actions, urging the people of Kano to remain calm and law-abiding as authorities conduct their investigations.
