Ganduje Bribery video: What next after public hearing?

The chamber of the Kano State House of Assembly was filled to capacity on Thursday as people thronged the complex to witness the testimony of the Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of Daily Nigerian online newspaper, Jaafar Jaafar over a video clip purportedly showing the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje receiving kickback from an unidentified […]

The chamber of the Kano State House of Assembly was filled to capacity on Thursday as people thronged the complex to witness the testimony of the Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of Daily Nigerian online newspaper, Jaafar Jaafar over a video clip purportedly showing the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje receiving kickback from an unidentified contractor.

As early as 6:am on the fateful day, armed security personnel comprising police, civil defense, Department of Security Service (DSS) took over the control of the entire Audu Bako Secretariat complex, venue of the public hearing. All roads leading to the Assembly complex were barricaded by heavily armed security men.

There was also presence of security men right inside the chamber even though they were without any firearms. The police and civil defense personnel were stationed at various locations inside the chamber.

People from various locations from within and outside Kano started trooping to the Assembly as early as 7:30am to witness the sitting. However, security at the entrance of the complex insisted that only accredited persons would be allowed to gain access into the chamber.

The Assembly chamber was largely occupied by representatives of various Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), journalists, lawyers, public commentators, politicians, legislators, security personnel, international observers, and representatives of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and others.

Initially, the session was scheduled to commence at 11am, but due to the late arrival of Daily Nigerian’s publisher, it began at exactly 12:20pm.

The publisher eventually stepped into the complex at exactly 12:14pm amidst tight security. Jaafar who wore a white kaftan and black shoes, was accompanied by his two lawyers, Barrister Isaac N. Ambule and Barrister Bashir Adam as well as his graphic expert. They were escorted to the Assembly from Malam Aminu Kano Iinternational Airport (MAKIA) by three Assistant Commissioners of Police and 70 armed police mobile operatives with a team of journalists.

In his short remarks before the commencement of the sitting, the committee chairman, Baffa Babba Danagundi said the committee would be guided by the 1999 Constitution and the rules of the House throughout its sitting.

When asked to explain to the gathering how he came across the video clip and in his testimony, Jaafar told the seven-man committee that somebody he knows for many years approached him with a complaint that Governor Ganduje had developed the habit of collecting kickbacks ranging between 30 and 35 per cent from contractors and that he wanted him as a journalist to do a story.

He said he told the whistleblower that he needed to have concrete evidence before he could publish the story, noting “it is just unprofessional for us to just go ahead and say the governor is collecting bribe based on hearsay. So, the whistleblower agreed to fix a spy camera on his Kaftan lapel to get multiple shots of the governor while in the act.

“I got the videos from the whistleblower in September 2018, but I watched them much earlier. I watched the videos about 2 years ago. I have 15 different video clips. Nine of the videos showed the face of the governor and about six did not show his face.

“So I told the whistleblower that in this case, I cannot publish those that did not show the face of the governor despite the fact that the conversation was identifiable. We released only two clips so far. Initially, we released the first clip on October 14, without voice in order to protect the whistleblower and the people around but when people doubted the credibility of the clip, we released another one with voice”, Jaafar said.

Insisting that he had followed some processes of confirming the authenticity of the videos before releasing them to the public, he said: “First, I invited an expert from the Amnesty International who verified the video and confirmed that it is genuine. I also invited editorial expert who verified the clips and confirmed they are genuine. A BBC staff also verified the clip and ascertained it to be authentic and also the management of Premium Times. Also my in-house graphic expert has subjected the videos to some back-end checks and confirmed that they are genuine. So, my videos are authentic, accurate and un-tempered.”

When asked to mention the whistleblower, the publisher said: “In the spirit of universal principle of confidentiality, we cannot do that because we are reference to that principle. We cannot disclose our source. But I will consult my solicitor following the request of the committee chairman for the whistleblower to testify in a small committee and on condition that his identity would not be made public.”

The publisher also told the committee that contrary to speculations, the issue has nothing to do with politics, saying: “I still stand by my story and the video clips. I hope the committee will do justice to all parties involved in the matter.”

He then tendered his written statement and a disc of the video clips to the committee for scrutiny. However, the Attorney General of the state, Barrister Ibrahim Mukhtar, asked the publisher whether he had balanced his story before going to press or not and Jaafar testified that he had neither contacted the governor nor any of his official to balance his story.

However, he said “Even before, we released the video Kano State government issued a press statement describing the video as cloned. Assuming somebody is hungry and trying to ask someone to give him food, suddenly that someone puts food in the mouth of the hungry man, why should the hungry man ask him for food?”

When asked whether he faced any intimidation from security or any other person the publisher said on the contrary he was adequately protected right from the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport MAKIA to the Assembly complex.

However, the request by his counsel, Barrister Isaac N. Ambule for the committee to relocate the sitting to a neutral ground was turned down on the grounds that the sitting was made public so that the parties involved and the general public could bear witness in handling the matter with fairness, justice and transparency.

He assured Jaafar, Daily Nigerian and his lawyer that the committee would do justice to all parties involved, saying “We will review the clips in the presence of Jaafar, his lawyer and expert, Governor Ganduje, his lawyers and experts. We will also allow Jaafar to bring his expert to review the video in the presence of every party.

“Likewise, the governor will be allowed to bring his expert to review the videos and in the end the committee will bring an independent expert to also review the clips before it will make its report.”

The sitting, Daily Trust on Sunday observed, was smooth and transparent and the conduct of members of the committee and security personnel was also excellent. However, the question that still awaits answers is what exactly the Assembly aims to achieve.

But a member of the committee, who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on condition of anonymity, said, “All we are after is fairness because all eyes are on us now to see whether we will do justice to this issue or not. The Transparency International and all the anti-corruption agencies have interest in this case and therefore we must handle the matter with utmost caution.

On the possibility of impeachment, the member said, “Whoever is thinking of impeaching Ganduje at this stage is ignorant about the activities of the Assembly. Until we prove his guiltiness, the House cannot do anything close to impeachment.”