There is tension brewing in Kano Statehouse after Abdulazeez Ganduje, the eldest son of the governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, threatened legal action against the government of his father for failure to pay the sum of N82 million to his company, Global Firm Nigeria Limited, being final payment of a contract executed.
According to Daily Nigerian, Gov. Ganduje on February 13, 2020, approved the contract for “CONVERSION OF MARIRI REHABILITATION CENTER TO IDP GIRLS SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE” to his son’s company at the cost of N189,913,590.54.
On May 7, 2021, the company was paid N94,556,795.27 through referral payment from the state Ministry of Local Government, representing 50 percent of the contract sum, leaving the balance of 50 percent.
However, after a downward review of the contract by the ministry to the tune of N177,619,259.36, another contract for the supply of computers and furniture for the administrative block and entrepreneurship items at the cost of N12,294,331.23 was awarded to the company to cover the deficit.
But to Abdulazeez’s dismay, his father refused to approve the final payment of N82,662,464.04, despite allegedly executing the project, writing to the ministries concerned and involvement of some associates of the governor.
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Insiders confirmed that the governor’s refusal to approve the payment might not be unconnected with Abdulazeez’s September 2021 petition to the EFCC against his mother, Hafsat Ganduje, in a bungled multi-million naira land deal he (Abdulaziz) facilitated.
When contacted, the governor’s son confirmed his resolve to take legal action over the issue but said his father refused to approve the payment over his (Abdulaziz) refusal to give kickback in cash to Ganduje Foundation.
“I’m a very peaceful person. I did my best and explored all peaceful options to get the payment of my money, about N83 million, to no avail.
“I have not been paid either because of the petition I wrote against Goggo (his mother) or my refusal to give part of the money to Ganduje Foundation as kickback.
“I said I would not give cash, but donate materials to the foundation. But they insisted that I must donate money to the foundation and I swear to God that I will not.
“This is the money that I worked hard for. I executed the project diligently at the Mariri IDP centre. I have been waiting patiently to receive this money but there is no sign of paying it to me,” Abdulazeez stated.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Education, Abdulazeez’s solicitors demanded payment of N82,662,464.04 within seven days or take legal action.
Mr Ganduje was previously exposed in a kick-back collection scandal in October 2018 when Daily Nigerian published a series of videos showing the governor collecting money from a government contractor.
The executive secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Sadiq Radda, on Thursday said Mr Ganduje has several questions to answer regarding corruption cases against him.
“You can see in Kano, Ganduje has many cases to answer while in office, he will answer more when out of office and sadly for the first time in Nigeria a son is taking his mother to the EFCC,” Mr Radda said.
