KANO: Govt files fresh charges against Ganduje

In the charge sheet with case No. K/143c/24, filed on Tuesday, the state government accused Ganduje and former Commissioner for Justice, Musa Lawan, of criminal conspiracy and misappropriation contrary to Section 308, and punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code (as amended) CAP 105, Vol. 2, the Laws of Kano State of Nigeria.

The new charges outline allegations of financial misconduct involving a substantial sum of money.

According to the charge sheet, Ganduje and Lawan were accused of conspiring to misappropriate, divert, and convert ₦240m for personal use.

The charge sheet states, “The duo are standing trial for dishonestly, fraudulently, and without reasonable justification, in the abuse of your respective offices, conspired between yourselves, misappropriated, diverted, and converted the sum of Two Hundred and Forty Million Naira (N240,000,000.00) to finance purely personal and private cases for your own personal and private benefit, thereby causing wrongful gain to yourselves and wrongful loss to the Government and people of Kano State.”

The document further revealed that the prosecution plans to present four witnesses to testify against the defendants.

It alleged that Ganduje, leveraging his position as the governor, conspired with Lawan, who initiated a memo requesting the release of the funds ostensibly for civil litigation, involving Kano State staff allegedly abused by the EFCC.

The court charges said, “In reality, the funds were purportedly used to secure an order preventing the EFCC from investigating bribery and corruption allegations against Ganduje.”

The charges against Ganduje and Lawan include criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and criminal misappropriation, all contravening various sections of the Penal Code (as amended) CAP 105, Vol. 2, Laws of Kano State of Nigeria.