Kano Drug supply scandal: Kwankwaso contests simultaneous investigation by anti-graft agencies, heads to court

Musa Garba Kwankwaso, nephew of the leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso has vowed to contest in court what his legal counsel has described as ‘concurrent invitations by three anti-graft agencies over the same case’, regarding the current controversy over drug supply contract in Kano State.

The investigation was initiated against him by the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The indication emerged,Thursday (yesterday, August 22) after Kwankwaso was questioned by the Commission’s interrogators for his role in the controversial drug supply contract to Kano’s 44 local government areas.

A leading member of his legal team told our correspondent in confidence that they are heading to court to challenge their concurrent invitations by three anti – graft agencies over the same case.

“We are invited here today. We were also invited to appear before the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on Monday I also know that the All Progressives Congress has sent a petition against us to the EFCC, and usually EFCC’s petitions go to Abuja before they send you an invitation,” the legal counsel agonized.

“So as it is, we are being investigated at the same time by three anti-corruption agencies. That is the ground for our going to court.”

He said that contrary to “the falsehood in the public domain”, his client was awarded a legitimate contract and has been executing it in line with the terms of the contract.

“The contract is a single line contract of N10 million for each of the 44 local government areas amounting to N440 million, short of the withholding tax and other state levies,” he said, disclosing that the contract was awarded only two weeks ago and that so far, they have mad supplies to only 12 of the 44 local government areas in Kano.

“What happened was that whoever is the whistleblower deliberately distorted the facts for his own purposes and gave the impression that monies were just dumped in an account and no drug has been supplied to any local government area

“The second mischief he did was to imply that the contract was to run for a year so that the total purported figure of money involved would be mind blowing. But the fact is that this is a single, one-off contract and nothing more,” Kwankwaso’s counsel further explained.

According to him, if there were breaches of the government’s procurement laws as alleged, it is the responsibility of the officials of the state government to ensure that they implement these laws, not the supplier.

It would be recalled that the nephew of the leader of the New Nigeria People Party who is also the Managing Director of Novomed pharmaceuticals is being investigated for his role in an alleged multi-million naira drug supply contract scandal

At the time of filing this report, he was still at the office of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti Corruption Commission in the state.

Courtesy: Daily Sun