#GandujeGate: Kano anti-corruption agency invites commissioner for admitting governor’s kickback collection

The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday said it will invite the state commissioner for Rural and Community Development, Musa Iliyasu-Kwankwaso, for “legalising kickbacks” allegedly received by the governor.

DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that the agency was “angry” with the commissioner’s “reckless comments” over the issue.

A commission’s official who spoke under the condition of anonymity said the commissioner erred in legalizing the kickbacks as “Sections 22 and 23 specifically say any benefit or favour is illegal.”

“The commissioner will be invited for questioning and dealt with accordingly. His comments are reckless,” he said.

Speaking in a programme titled Jagoran Gwamnati a Karkara aired on Freedom Radio in Kano on Sunday, Mr Iliyasu-Kwankwaso had said that “collecting certain percentage to award contract is normal in government.”

“There is nothing new in this. Who asked the contractors to give the money to the governor?” he asked.

The commissioner challenged the contractors to come out publicly to claim that they paid 15 to 25% before they were awarded contracts.

“Since the three years of this administration, the contractors have been giving the kickbacks, why did they fail to claim that they must pay 15 to 25% before they were awarded contracts until now?

“I challenge the contractors to come out and say that they must pay the percentage before they receive contracts. This is just blackmail to the person of Ganduje.

“This kind of percentage, though it is not legal, but it is rampant in every level of government, from federal up to the local government level. It is nothing new,” he stressed.