Gov: Armed robbers, not gorilla stole N6.8m in Kano zoo
Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano yesterday granted an order restraining Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje and the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission from acting on the preliminary report on alleged misappropriation of N3.4 billion by the Kano Emirate Council.
This is coming as the governor yesterday in Abuja said no conclusion had been reached yet on the stand-off between him and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, saying discussion was still ongoing.
The order followed a suit filed on June 7, by Muhammad Mannir-Sanusi, Dan Buran Kano, seeking an order to restrain Ganduje, the commission and the state Attorney General or their agents from acting on the preliminary report of the investigation.
Justice Obiora A. Egwuatu, issued the restraining order and directed that the respondents be served through a publication in the Daily Trust newspaper and the Attorney General of the state.
He adjourned the case to June 28, for hearing of the motion on notice.
Meanwhile, Ganduje yesterday in Abuja said no conclusion had been reached yet on the stand-off between him and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, saying discussion was still ongoing.
Ganduje made this disclosure while answering questions from journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the State House, Abuja.
The governor said discussion was still in progress. “Discussion is still ongoing,” he said.
Asked on why he seemed determined to depose the emir, Ganduje queried such insinuation, saying “who told you that?”
On the allegation that a gorilla swallowed N6.8 million in Kano zoo, Ganduje dismissed it as untrue, explaining that the money was rather stolen by armed robbers who reportedly stormed the zoo and made away with its safe.
Ganduje disclosed that there was no gorilla in the zoo.
However, he said he had given an order for the investigation of the entire episode by the state’s anti-graft agency, saying it was the body’s preliminary report, which revealed that the matter was an armed robbery incident.
“This is because there is even no gorilla in that zoo. We are told that there was an armed robbery incident in which the entire safe at the zoo was carted away,” he said.
