Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption
Commission on Thursday insisted that Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, must
appear before it over fresh allegation on land racketeering.
The Chairman of the commission, Muhuyi Magaji
Rimingado, told journalists in his office yesterday that the body is empowered
to open fresh investigation on any body found wanting, alleging that Sanusi has
a case to answer.
Rimingado, who explained that "I wish to
categorically state that this commission is entering a new investigation
brought forward by a whistleblower on December 29, 2019, and is not related to the
earlier investigation which is still a subject matter of civil suit.
"As we await the arrival of the invitee, we
received a letter from Messrs. Dikko and Mahmoud stating among other things that
the power of this commission to initiate criminal complaints is being
challenged in suit No: K/208/2019.
"In response to that, the commission drew the attention of the
learned colleagues on the binding decision of the Court of Appeal which affirmed
the Kano State High Court decision that settled the power of this commission to
investigate allegations of corruption against any person in the state as
decided in the case of Kano State public complaints and anti-corruption commission
and 1 IRS Vs. Baba Salisu and 26 others), 2019 LPELR 47107 CA.
“Preliminary findings suggest that a company,
Country Wide House Limited served as a corporate vehicle to allegedly launder
the sum of over N2billion being proceeds of several hectares of land in
Darmanawa phase I and II and Bubbugaji, under the former right of occupancy
CON-RESS 2016-503 illegally sold to Messer Family Home Fund Limited at the
alleged instance of His Highness the Emir of Kano.
"Investigation further revealed that some of
the proceeds of the sales remitted to the emirate council bank account can be
traced to the companies of interest to the emir.”
According to him, Sanusi is being invited to clear
himself over the allegation of illegal sales of government property, restating
that the new allegation was not related to the previous investigation.
The Kano anti-corruption boss also stated that
"the commission also acknowledged the right of the legal practitioners
under the criminal justice administration law to be present during the
interview of their client.
"But we reminded them on the legal duty
imposed by law on their client to honour our invitation and provide all the necessary
information as required, and urged them to inform their client to come forward
on March 9, 2020."
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