‘Bribe video’: Agents of Kano governor after me – Journalist
Nigeria media is on trial again for living up to its expectation and holding the government accountable to the people. This time, Jaafar Jaafar, the Publisher of Daily Nigerian, an online publication, is on the front burner to exposing some alleged inappropriate actions of the Kano State governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
For Jaafar, the Kano State Government is on his tracks for alleging that Nigerian security agencies are currently analysing a number of video clips purportedly showing Governor Ganduje receiving bribes from multiple contractors amounting to $5 million.
Now, Jaafar has gone into hiding over alleged threats to his life by agents of Kano State Government following the report of the story in his online publication.
The publisher told Daily Trust on Sunday on phone from an undisclosed location that he has credible information that agents of government are trying to mistreat him. “It might not be the governor directly but his agents are trying to do that,” he explained.
He, however, said his office is in operation and workers are going about their usual duties.
Asked when the videos will be released, Jaafar said “it might not be up to a week before we do that.”
According to the publication, contractors who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the governor personally received from 15 to 25 percent kickbacks for every project executed in the state.
It noted that the president would act on the report as soon as the two security agencies submit the report.
The publication pointed out that in one of the videos, the governor 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.
Worried about the development, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Africa on its verified Twitter account @CPJAfrica expressed concern “by reports that Jaafar Jaafar, publisher and editor in chief of @ daily_nigerian has been forced into hiding following an article alleging corruption by @GovUmarGanduje of Kano state.”
The Kano State Government in a reaction “KNGS will not succumb to blackmail, extortion” through the Commissioner, Information, Youth & Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, said there was no iota of truth to the allegations and if indeed there is any such alleged video, it is at best cloned.
Also, the Commissioner who was one-time National President of the Nigerian Union of journalists (NUJ), in the statement noted that “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 stated that “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.”
According to the statement, 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.
Garba noted that the state government is taking the 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. He also called on the good people of Kano and particularly members of the APC to remain calm and always be law abiding.