Ganduje denies taking bribes, alleges blackmail

After a flurry of activities by some non-governmental organisations backing the Kano State governor, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, over an unpublicised video showing him allegedly collecting bribes running into millions of dollars, the state government is curiously saying such a video if it exists might have been cloned.
“In one of the clips, this reporter watched how the governor, who appeared without a cap, took note of the names of contractors who paid the kickback and later tucked the bundles of dollar notes into his kaftan side pockets and trousers’ pockets,” claimed Daily Nigerian in the first part of the report of bribe taking
The State’s Commissioner, Information, Youth & Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, said in a statement that the report in the online newspaper was malicious, alleging that it was intended to blackmail and extort from the Governor.
He did not give proof of the blackmail or extortion claims against the newspaper.
He adds: “The blackmail did not come as a surprise to the government and good people of Kano state particularly, at a time when we are approaching general elections. Evidently, Kano being the stronghold of the APC and expected to produce the highest votes in the upcoming general elections is a target of campaign of calumny.
“It is also not surprising that the stuff is published by one who has for long been working for the opposition and an antagonist of the APC government in Nigeria.
“We wish to state that there is no iota of truth to these allegations and if indeed there is any such alleged video, it is at best cloned. More so, in this era of technological advancements, some evil minded people often take advantage to blackmail and extort and assassinate the character of people that do not ” patronize them”.
“It will be recalled that just recently, the Inspector General of Police, the Emir of Kano, Governor of Adamawa and many others were ridiculed when their cloned videos and pictures went viral respectively. It is surprising that the same editor of the online medium making the baseless allegations against the Governor was the one who came out to defend the Emir, arguing that the video was cloned. Indeed it was.
“To further prove that the online media is bent on discrediting, blackmailing and assassinating the character of the Governor, the online media has yet to reveal the identity of the giver of the bribe, who is also supposed to be a culprit in the eye of the law. We are therefore calling on the general public to be vigilant as we heard from good authority that many of such cloned videos involving highly placed persons considered as obstacle to the opposition agenda ahead of 2019 will be released in peace meal.
“The government of Kano state is taking this matter seriously, and will exploit every appropriate and legal avenue to ensure that it gets to the root of the matter and the perpetrators are brought to book. We also call on the good people of Kano and particularly members of the APC to remain calm and always be law abiding.
“His Excellency Governor Ganduje will remain focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to the good people of Kano including other national assignments. He will never succumb to blackmail or negotiate with blackmailers.”