Ganduje’s Political Appointees Enmeshed in Alleged Assets Declaration Mess
About a month after operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), arrested the Kano State Commissioner for Special Duties, Mukhtar Ishaq over alleged N86 million fraud, 11 political appointees of Governor Umar Ganduje have been caught in assets declaration crisis.
Investigation by PRNigeria indicates that huge sums of money in both local and foreign currency accounts, as well as physical assets by the aides to Ganduje were not properly declared to the statutory body, in addition to defaulting and non-compliance with the statutes of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
One of the document sighted by PRNigeria, revealed that the Director-General, Media to Governor Ganduje, Salihu Tanko Yakasai is top on the list of non-compliance in the whole of Kano state Cabinet office.
Other non-complying aides to Governor Ganduje include the Special Assistant on New Media in the cabinet office; Uba Tanko Mijinyawa, Special Assistant on Critical Infrastructure; Engr. Mansur Ahmed, the Special Assistant on Intelligence; Tanko Indi Sarki, the Director-General of Youth, Mr Ado Abba Tiwada, and the Special Assistant Sports, Alhaji Kabiru Baita.
Further checks revealed that the four other aides Ganduje may have refused to comply with the Assets Declaration processes. They include Habibu Saleh, who is the Special Assistant on Revenue; Saleh Shehu K – Special Assistant on IGR; Zulyadawi Sidi Mustapha – Senior Special Assistant on SDGs and Haruna D. Zago – Special Assistant on Food Security.
It was also gathered that top officials of the State Government are mounting pressure on the Code of Conduct Bureau not to submit the list of the defaulters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), a development that would ensure a safe landing for the officials that are deemed to have breached the Code of Conduct offence for public officers.
But sources within the CCB said that the document has already been prepared for despatch to CCT, stressing that any document in the hands of the CCT is as good as in the hands of the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar.
