The Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of an online media platform, Daily Nigeria, Ja’afar Ja’afar, yesterday appeared before the Kano State House of Assembly panel investigating alleged bribery video footage showing Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje receiving kickbacks from contractors handling state projects.
The public hearing began exactly at 12.20 p.m. after the publisher arrived at the Assembly complex with armed security operatives alongside his team of lawyers.
Ja’afar, who testified before the Baffa Babba DanAgundi-led committee, re-affirmed the authenticity of the video clips. He said the evidence was received from a whistle-blower.
The publisher, however, rejected the panel’s request to unveil the identity of the whistleblower, citing universal practice of protecting image and identity of whistle-blower.When the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ibrahim Muktar, asked Ja’afar whether he approached Governor Ganduje or any state government apparatus to balance the claim of the contractor and or, verify the credibility of the controversial footage, he said: “I did not deem it fit to balance the story before the publication. The story was already balanced with the response of the government, which claimed the video was cloned.”
DanAgundi said the panel would adjourn till further notice to enable it embark on secret meeting where government officials would be engaged to defend the video clips.Meanwhile, hundreds of politicians and school pupils went on mass protest at the venue of the public hearing. The protesters called for cancellation of the hearing, insisting that the alleged bribery scandal is targeted to dent the image of Ganduje.
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