Breaking: Governor Ganduje wins corruption case despite video showing him pocketing dollars

President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war will once again come into the spotlight following the acquittal of Kano State Governor Abdullahii Umar Ganduje, by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Monday, in a case relating to last year's video of him allegedly receiving kickback from a contractor.



The scandalous video showing Governor Umar Ganduje pocketing vast wads of American dollars in what was said to be bribe payments from public works contractors, was released by Daily Nigerian late last year (October 2018), and was found to be authentic following rigorous examination by independent graphic experts.

According to a report by Premium Times, the two minutes video was recorded in 2017 in what Daily Nigerian described as a sting operation aimed at beaming a spotlight on the governor’s alleged penchant for contract racketeering.


The released video showed the Kano State governor receiving the sum of $230,000 which was hastily stashed in his “babanriga,” a native attire common amongst men of northern Nigerian origin.

Daily Nigerian said the $230,000 was part of a series of cash advancement to the governor in a total bribery deal of $5 million.



The audio version of the video was also subsequently made available, revealing the below conversation between Ganduje and the contractors;

“I think you should collect this money before anyone walks in,” one of the contractors could be heard telling the governor. “I think you should put it on your body to conceal it with your babanriga.”


A brief laughter then erupted amongst them. The video was reportedly shot in one of the living rooms at the governor’s official residence in Kano, the state capital.

“MD will soon be back from Istanbul on Friday evening to give us the other allocations,” the contractor added after telling the governor he had concealed a total of $230,000 in his babanriga for the day’s transaction.




Following the release of the video, Kano based lawyer Bulama Bukarti, filed a suit seeking an order of the court compelling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the governor for allegedly receiving kickback from a contractor.

Bulama had approached the court seeking for an order compelling the EFCC to provide report of its forensic investigation analysis of the said video.



However, Justice Egwuatu in his ruling, dismissed the case for lack of evidence.

Egwuatu ruled that even though where the affidavit deposed to, is not countered, it is deemed admitted,the evidence therein must be cogent and verifiable.

The judge averred that the provisions of Freedom of Information Act 2011, required that information requested must be a public record and in the custody of the instruction of organization so requested from.


Justice Egwuatu dismissed the case on the grounds that the evidence before the court has not shown that the EFCC has the record of the forensic analysis of the bribery video allegations, noting that the report ought to be given to the Kano state House of Assembly ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the matter.