The Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KNUPDA, has denied involvement in the alleged N2.4billion shop allocation scam in Kantin Kwari market, West Africa’s largest textiles hub.
On Sunday, sources at the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission said a mega scam involving the state Ministry of Commerce and Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KNUPDA was uncovered.
The anti-corruption agency alleged that over 900 names were fraudulently inserted in the on-going relocation of traders with temporary stalls to a new shopping mall called ‘Yan Tebura.
Reacting to the story, the managing of KNUPDA, Bashir Mudi, said his agency neither collected money from any trader nor received any correspondence from any government agency indicating receipt of money.
Giving further clarification, Mr Mudi said the state government had no plan to sell but lease the shops to the displaced stall owners at affordable rate.
“I’m really taken aback by the report because nobody collected a dime from any trader. It was erroneous impression given by some people that the shops are to be sold. This shows the accusers themselves do not understand the concept. The fact of the matter is that government plans to lease not sell the shops.
“KNUPDA was only invited to be part of the initial verification exercise, and we sent two of our staff to be part of the committee. People should also know that KNUPDA does not allocate plots or shops,” the managing director further clarified.
