The corruption scandal engulfing the Kano State Government has widened after the state’s Commissioner for Community and Rural Development, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, reportedly admitted to authorising a payment of N1.17 billion, which investigators say was fraudulent, while serving as the Accountant General.
Mr Abdulsalam, who was interrogated by officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), reportedly confessed to approving, in November 2023, the payment for a contract that never existed.
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Investigators say the N1.17 billion payment forms the foundation of a suspected N6.5 billion fraud and money laundering scheme. They allege that Mr Abdulsalam conspired with Abdullahi Rogo, director-general of protocol to Governor Abba Yusuf, to divert state resources by funnelling funds through bureau de change (BDC) operators.
According to ICPC documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Abdulsalam facilitated the payment using fabricated “letters of authority” purportedly issued by A.Y. Mai Kifi Oil and Gas Ltd. and Ammas Petroleum Company Ltd.
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The managing directors of both companies later disowned the contracts, telling investigators that they had signed the documents at the instruction of the former accountant general.
Although he admitted authorising the payments, Mr Abdulsalam could not reportedly explain why the funds were routed to bureau de change firms. The commissioner did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ calls and messages seeking his comment on the issue.
Witness statements reviewed by this newspaper show how the diverted funds were laundered through BDC operators. On 9 November 2023, N1.17 billion was directly drawn from Kano State’s Federation Account Allocation and transferred to BDC operators, Gali Muhammad and Nasiru Adamu, managing directors of Kazo Nazo and Namu Nakune.
In return, Mr Muhammad handed $1 million in cash to Mr Rogo at the Kano Liaison Office in Asokoro, Abuja.
ICPC investigators concluded that Mr Abdulsalam and Mr Rogo colluded to launder public funds through the currency market.
The commission has since recovered N1.1 billion of the diverted money into its recovery account.
Broader scandal
The reported confession by Mr Abdulsalam adds to the growing body of evidence in the ongoing EFCC and ICPC investigation into alleged misappropriation of N6.5 billion of Kano State’s funds.
Investigators believe Mr Rogo masterminded the diversion, moving state resources through front companies, bureau de change outlets and private accounts. The ICPC has so far recovered a total of N1.3 billion linked to him, including funds allegedly laundered through corporate fronts and his personal accounts.
Earlier, PREMIUM TIMES revealed how some BDC operators implicated Mr Rogo, narrating in witness statements how they were instructed to convert large volumes of Kano State funds into dollars and return the cash to him.
Despite the evidence, the Kano State Government has continued to defend its officials. It described reports of the N6.5 billion scandal as “falsehoods” pushed by political enemies determined to discredit Governor Abba Yusuf’s administration.
The government also insisted that all financial transactions within ministries and agencies were budgeted for and properly accounted for, stressing that no official had access to funds outside approved purposes.
Turning its focus on the opposition, the Yusuf administration accused former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his associates of financial recklessness. It claimed that more than N20 billion was withdrawn through the Protocol Directorate in just three months between February and May 2023 after the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost power to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Corruption allegations span successive Kano administrations.
The administration of Governor Abba Yusuf is not the first in Kano State to be dogged by corruption allegations. Successive governments in the state have faced scandals, including bribery, mismanagement of public funds, and questionable asset deals.
In 2018, former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje was caught in a viral video allegedly receiving stacks of US dollars as kickbacks from contractors. He was seen tucking the cash into his “baban riga”.
Beyond the video scandal, Mr Ganduje’s government was also accused of land grabbing and the unlawful takeover of public assets, allegations he has consistently denied.
Mr Ganduje’s predecessor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is also under investigation by the EFCC over a petition filed by the Concerned Kano State Workers and Pensioners. The group accused him of mismanaging about N10 billion in pension contributions between 2011 and 2015, in violation of the state’s pension and gratuity law.
The petitioners allege that Mr Kwankwaso diverted the funds into a housing scheme and later manipulated the arrangement to allocate houses to his associates shortly before leaving office in May 2015.
Mr Kwankwaso, who served two terms as governor and later as senator for Kano Central, has denied wrongdoing.
In the same vein, former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau also faced trial alongside ex-Foreign Affairs Minister Aminu Wali and Mansur Ahmed on a six-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering involving N950 million.
The EFCC accused them of receiving the money, allegedly part of slush funds from ex-Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke in the run-up to the 2015 general elections. Though they pleaded not guilty, EFCC investigators testified that the funds were collected from Fidelity Bank and distributed among PDP members in Kano. In September 2019, Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Kano dismissed their no-case submission and ordered them to enter their defence.
However, the case was reportedly terminated after the EFCC abandoned prosecution, effectively ending Mr Shekarau’s trial.
