Kano Assembly Bribery Allegation: It’s An Embarrassment To Me……Dangote

Africa’s leading industrialist, 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.”

The spokesman of Dangote Group of Companies, Tony Chiejina, who spoke on behalf of Dangote, said the allegation has no foundation whatsoever and is an “outright falsehood”.

On June 17, an online portal, DailyNigerian.com, reported an allegation that Dangote gave the former Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Alhaji Kabiru Rurum, N100 million to “kill” a probe of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, by the House.

The portal, with no address or names of its masterminds, provided no evidence of the bribe.

This came after the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, had said the Assembly was prevailed upon by well meaning Nigerians, led by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to drop the investigation of the Emir over allegations of financial misdeed.

Rurum, responding to the allegation in an interview on June 29, 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.

He said: “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.”

Rurum said that the intervention of Osinbajo, Northern Governors and other notable Nigerians to stop the probe was channeled through the state governor and not the assembly.

He said: “It is a tradition that when such things happen, 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.”

However, despite the explanation by Rurum, he was forced to resign on Monday and a five-man panel set up to probe him.

Chiejina said on Monday night that the allegation has been “embarrassing” to Dangote.

He said: “Aliko Dangote does not even know the embattled speaker, Hon. Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, let alone being his friend as alleged by the report.”