Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso , has said that he was not being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for contracts awarded during his time at the Ministry of Defence
A statement by his principal private secretary, Muhammad Inuwa Ali, yesterday denied media reports which claimed that Kwankwaso was being investigated for fraudulent contracts awarded at the Ministry of Defence was untrue and mischievous.
The statement held that the unsubstantiated newspaper and social media reports making the rounds was targeted at maligning the image of Sen. Kwankwaso.
“The allegation that Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso and his aides Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, (the current governor of Kano State, who was a special assistant of Sen. Kwankwaso at the Ministry of Defense) and Abba Yusuf, who was the personal assistant to Sen Kwankwaso at the same ministry,were being investigated for fraudulent contract awards in the Federal Ministry of Defense was mischievous and untrue” said the statement “
“One of the media outlets even alleged that Abba Yusuf and Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje have collected N30 million and N50 million respectively. This is also untrue” said the statement.
“We wish to put the record straight and draw the attention of the general public that during the said period which the alleged fraudulent contracts took place i.e. 2007; Sen. Kwankwaso was not the Minister of Defense. He resigned from that position in November 2006 to free himself to contest for the governorship ticket of the PDP in Kano State.
“In fact, the only position he was holding at that time was representing the Northwest region on the Board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). A position he voluntarily resigned from in 2010 because of his disagreement with the obvious corrupt practices in the way the commission was being administered.
“ During the same period, Dr. Ganduje was in Ndjamena as Executive Secretary, Lake Chad Basin Commission. Therefore, there was no way either Sen. Kwankwaso or any of his aides at that material time could have been involved in the alleged defense contract scam”.
