Africa’s leading industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has an advice for
the committee set up by the Kano State House of Assembly to probe a bribery
allegation against its
former speaker: ‘Don’t waste your time, it’s all
falsehood’.
Dangote Group spokesman, Mr. Tony Chiejina said the allegation has no
foundation whatsoever and is an ‘outright falsehood”.
On 17 June, an online portal, DailyNigerian.com, ostensibly fishing for
traffic first published the unsubstantiated allegation that Dangote gave the
former Kano Assembly Speaker, Alhaji Kabiru Rurum N100 million to kill a probe
of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi.
The portal, with no address or names of its masterminds, provided no
evidence of the bribe. And it came after Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had said
the Assembly was prevailed upon by well meaning Nigerians, led by the Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo to drop the investigation of the respected Emir over
allegations of financial misdeed.
Rurum responding to the allegation in an interview on 20 June, described
the story as false, designed to tarnish his image and bring the whole Assembly
into disrepute.
He gave DailyNigeria.com one week within which to retract the report and
apologise to the State Assembly or face legal action.
According to him, the report is also targeted at creating tension and
chaos among the lawmakers and ridicule the personality of Dangote.
`The story was just a fabrication, a tissue of lies and unjustifiable,
because there was never a time I met with Dangote to discuss such issue, not to
talk of him offering bribe to us.”
He said that the intervention of Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,
Northern Governors and other notable Nigerians to stop the probe was channeled
through the state governor and not the assembly.
“It is a tradition that when such things happened, the Governor gets in
touch with us as one of the three arms of government.
“Therefore, the governor forwarded his request letter appealing for the
suspension of the investigation on behalf of all the concerned citizens.”
But it appeared fellow legislators believed the unsubstantiated story by
DailyNigerian.com, such that two weeks after, they went for Rurum’s head,
forcing him to resign on Monday 3 July.
Chiejina told NAN on Monday night that the allegation has been
’embarrassing’, to Dangote.
“Aliko Dangote does not even know the embattled speaker, Hon. Kabiru
Alhassan Rurum, let alone being his friend as alleged by the report”, Chiejina
said.
The Kano Assembly meanwhile has asked a five-man committee to investigate
the allegations against Rurum.
The new Speaker, Alhaji Abdullahi Atta, proposed the investigation at the
plenary. It was unanimously accepted by the house.
Atta gave the committee, which has as the chairman, the Deputy Chief Whip
of the Assembly, Alhaji Muhammad Butu-Butu, a member representing Rimin
Gado/Tofa Constituency, three months to submit its report.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former speaker had in
his resignation letter said he resigned in order to protect his image and that
of his constituency over the corruption allegations.
Rurum told newsmen after the plenary session,that he has urged his
colleagues to be fair and just while conducting their investigation.
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