TheCable

Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria, a civil society organisation, has taken the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before a federal high court in Abuja over the bribery allegation against Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state.

The organisation also listed the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offence Commission (ICPC) and the police as defendants in the suit.

In October, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, had published multiple videos showing Ganduje allegedly receiving kickbacks from contractors, but the governor denied the allegations.

The Kano assembly subsequently set up a seven-man committee to investigate the allegation against the governor, but a high court in the state ordered the assembly to stop the probe.

But EiE faulted the response of the agencies to the issue.

In a statement on Tuesday, Tolulope Oladele, an assistant manager at EIE Nigeria, the organisation said it is committed to demanding accountability from elected public officers in the country.

“As an institution that is interested in the nation building by promoting good governance, transparency and accountability, we wrote to the ICPC, EFCC, and the Nigeria Police on December 17, 2018 to investigate the bribery allegation against Mr Ganduje as the court of law suggested,” EiE Nigeria said.

“We followed up with a reminder letter on April 2, 2019. Sadly, the executive arm of government saddled with the responsibility of investigating criminal offenses has taken no action!

“EiE Nigeria has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court Abuja compelling the EFCC, ICPC and Nigeria Police to probe and investigate Mr Ganduje on all allegations. The matter first came up for hearing on May 10th and has been adjourned to May 24th. We are committed to demanding that all who choose to serve and are elected into public office must be held accountable for their actions.

“According to the Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.”