President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday that Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, enjoyed immunity from prosecution as a sitting governor.
He also noted that under Nigerian laws, an accused remained innocent until proven guilty by the courts.
Besides,
the President noted that the alleged dollar bribes Ganduje was seen
stuffing in his pockets in a video widely circulated on social media,
had become a matter already in a law court.
Buhari was reacting
to criticisms in some quarters that he shielded his political associates
like Ganduje among others, from prosecution in the face of glaring
evidence.
Only on Thursday, the President, at an All Progressives
Congress rally in Kano, raised up the hand of Ganduje for his second
term bid before supporters.
In a statement by his Senior Special
Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday,
the President dismissed criticisms suggesting that his association with
Ganduje was a smear on his anti-corruption stance.
The
statement said some high-profile persons, including a former Secretary
to the Government of the Federation and a former state governor, were
being prosecuted for corruption.
The Executive Secretary of the
National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, was also cited as
another government official serving administrative leave to pave the way
for investigation into corruption allegations levelled against him.
“Despite
some of the suspects being close to the President, he had not shielded
them from investigation, administrative suspensions and prosecution”,
the statement added.
Specifically, on Ganduje, the Presidency said, “as a sitting governor, (he) enjoys immunity from prosecution in his own right.
“Furthermore, under Nigerian laws, a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“In
the circumstances, the matter is in court and the President has no
power to dictate to the court or the Kano State House of Assembly, which
is already investigating the matter, about what to do with the
allegations against Ganduje.
Source:- Punchng
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