Musa Garba Kwankwaso, the nephew of Kwankwasiyya movement leader Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has announced his intention to challenge the actions of three anti-corruption agencies against him in court,Daily Trust reports.
Kwankwaso made this statement after responding to an invitation from the State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) on Thursday, accompanied by his legal team.
According to a report by Daily Trust, the PCACC had arranged a meeting with Kwankwaso, who serves as the Managing Director of Novomed Pharmaceuticals, regarding allegations of a multi-million naira drug supply contract scam.
A letter signed by CSP Salisu Saleh, the commission’s head of operations on behalf of the chairman, stated that “the commission is investigating an alleged violation of Section 31 and 33 of the Public Procurement Law and Financial Management Law concerning contracts awarded by the Ministry for Local Governments in Kano State to your company (Novomed Pharmaceuticals) for the supply of drugs to 44 local government councils.”
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The investigation revolves around a N440 million drug contract. As part of the investigation, the anti-graft agency has secured a post-no-debit order on Novomed Pharmaceuticals’ account, freezing over N160 million while seeking to recover the remaining funds.
Kwankwaso’s counsel, Barrister Okechukwu Nwaeze, expressed concerns about the situation, stating, “Three agencies are investigating the same person for the same offenses. The ICPC, EFCC, and PCACC have all issued invitations on this matter. I don’t believe that is permissible under our constitution. How many times do we have to go through this process? Tomorrow, someone else could summon us, and we’d have to go again.”
He continued, “We want the court to make a clear pronouncement. The court has already ruled on this matter, and we will stand by that ruling while seeking further clarification on this particular issue. We are evaluating all our options, but we intend to challenge the legality of three agencies investigating the same offense in court.”
Daily Trust further reports that this issue gained attention after US-based Kano native filmmaker and content creator Bello Galadanchi released an exposé alleging that caretaker chairmen were instructed to remit N10 million each to the account of Novomed Pharmaceuticals, a company allegedly owned by Musa Garba Kwankwaso.
The PCACC has labeled these remittances as “fraudulent,” prompting the interrogation of several officials, including Mohammed Kabara, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Abdullahi Bashir, chairman of the state branch of the Association for Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON); and other officials from the Ministry of Local Government. They were questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday and later released on administrative bail.
