By Mustapha Adamu, Kano
The Secretary to the Kano State Government, Usman Alhaji, and commissioner for Justice, Haruna Falali, are allegedly making moves to strip the Kano State Public and Anti-Corruption Commission of its independence, DAILY NIGERIAN reliably gathered.
The commission’s recent investigation and prosecution of a former commissioner of Land, Bibi Farouk, and a top Kano prince, Ahmed Bayero, had sent fears into the cabinet that the commission spares no sacred cows.
While the SSG wrote a memo to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, seeking the commission to be reporting to him henceforth, the commissioner was said to have lobbied the Speaker of the Kano State Assembly, Alhassan Rurum, to repeal the law such that the commission would be answerable to his office.
Section 8 of the Kano State Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Law provides that “In exercising its powers under this Law, the Commission shall not be subjected to the direction and control of any authority”.
Sources quoted the chairman of the commission, Muhyi Magaji, as saying that he would not bow to the pressure of corrupt elements bent on derailing the Ganduje administration’s war against corruption.
According to the source, the chairman of the commission said he would rather resign than to allow the commission be stripped of its independence.
When contacted, the SSG told DAILY NIGERIAN that he had no intention of weakening the powers of the commission.
He said the memo he wrote to the governor was aimed at streamlining the operations of six government agencies, including the commission, for administrative convenience.
“The memo was was just for administrative arrangements such that the cabinet office would keep record of the commission’s activities. Cabinet office is just like a record keeper of government,” he explained.
He noted that he took the action with the consent of the commissioner for Justice.
The commissioner of Justice however denied seeking the cooperation of the House of Assembly to amend the law establishing the commission and put it under his control.
