Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje has said his administration will deal with those behind the 2018 “tampered videos” that allegedly showed him receiving kickbacks from contractors. He said the videos were aimed at preventing him from contesting the 2019 governorship election.
The Governor said his administration is also carrying out an “underground plan and investigation” to reveal the truth behind the videos.
Mr Ganduje stated this on Friday when he featured on a BBC Hausa programme and insisted that those behind the publication of the videos had mapped out plans to stop him from contesting and winning the 2019 governorship election.
In 2018, a scandalous video was published appearing to show Governor Ganduje pocketing vast wads of United States dollars in what was said to be bribe payments from public works contractors.
In the video which the governor claims was doctored, he could be seen collecting the dollars before rolling them into his white dress, “babanriga,” in one of a series of questionable deals allegeldly struck over a span of several months.
At the time, the first set of at least 15 clips were in possession of an online-based newspaper, Daily Nigerian.
“It is a lie and nothing of that nature ever happened. It was just a set up plan to stop me from contesting the election and I have contested, they wanted to stop me from winning the election and I have won. But that is not the big issue, the big one is we will deal with them,” the governor told the BBC.
“Even your picture can be tempered with to show you doing something with your hand or head and you know it’s possible. People always tend to believe falsehood.
“We will deal with those behind the fake videos aimed at tarnishing my image. No doubt the video is fake and we are on an underground plan and investigation which we will not reveal. But I assure you the video is fake and those behind it will be put to shame,” he added.
The Kano state house of assembly had at the time opened an investigation into the viral video, but it was cut short after a court ruled that it lacked the powers to investigate such matter.
A federal high court in Kano had also dismissed a suit seeking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate Ganduje for bribery.
By Abel Ejikeme