Members of the Kano State House of Assembly have denied receiving N17.2m bribe from the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The lawmakers, led by the speaker, Hon. Kabiru Alhassan Usman Rurum, last week visited Ganduje at the Government House, Kano, to pledge their loyalty and pass a vote of confidence on him.
Governor Ganduje is currently locked in a supremacy battle with his former boss and ex-governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
A former media aide to Kwankwaso, who is now the senator representing Kano Central, Sharu Garba Gwammaja, had claimed that the governor approved N17.2m for each of the 34 members who supported him.
Gwammaja also said the money was shared to the members as bribe to declare support for the governor and renounce the red cap – the symbol of Kwankwaso’s political movement also known as the ‘Kwankwasiyya’.
The alleged N17.2 million was a new dimension to the political battle between the two All Progressives Congress, APC, leaders.
However, debunking the allegation during a press briefing yesterday, Majority Leader of the House, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, said the mastermind of the rumour had been arrested by the police.
The majority leader said the House had instituted a legal action against Gwammaja over the matter and he was arrested by the police.
“This is a false allegation and an attempt to blackmail and tarnish the image of the Assembly members and the House will not take it lightly. We have reported to police and reports reaching us from them indicated that he was arrested”, Ata said.
He further stated that apart from the state lawmakers, two senators and 19 of the 24 members of the House of Representatives from the state, chairmen of the 44 local government areas and chairmen and secretaries of APC in the state had also declared support for Ganduje.
