Ganduje, not Abba Kabir, appointed Muhuyi Magaji as PCACC chairman – Dantiye
Kano State commissioner of information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, has said the chairman of the state Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) was appointed by the past government.
Dantiye said PCACC chairman, Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, was appointed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) government of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The commissioner said the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) government of Abba Kabir Yusuf only reinstated the PCACC chairman in obedience to a court order which the previous government refused to obey.
Dantiye was reacting to a certain Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Good Governance and Change Initiatives, which alleged in a communiqué on Tuesday that PCACC had completely been politicized “especially with the appointment of a partisan and card carrying member of the NNPP as Chairman…”
They demanded that Muhuyi Magaji “should either resign honorable” or be sacked immediately.
In his reaction, Dantiye, a former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, told Daily Trust that “On the issues of anti-corruption agency chairman, the court ordered that he should be reinstated. We are just obeying the court order unlike the past government. He was appointed by Ganduje, not our administration.”
The Coalition had also called on Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to stop further demolition of properties of the citizens in the state and pay compensation to the victims of the demolition.
The coalition also said that the state government should, as a matter of urgency, set up a committee that will verify the landowners affected by the demolition with a view to returning the properties to them.
In a communique issued after a One Day Conference by the groups and victims of demolition and other stakeholders, they described the demolition exercise embarked upon by this administration as a move to ‘underscore’ the essence of good governance in the state.
The communique which was signed by the National Coordinator of the groups, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi Shagari said, “The recent demolition of properties in Kano metropolis has caused pain and untold hardship to many families.
“That is why we strongly condemn the exercise and call on the government; First it should stop further demolition of properties of innocent citizens with immediate effect. It should also compile a comprehensive list of victims of the demolition and commence the process of compensation. They should set up a committee to verify genuine landowners with the view to return the same property to them.”
The group further said the governor should probe the leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Musa Kwnakwaso, over a white paper that was issued on him in 2006.
“That the state government in the spirit of fairness should re- visit the recommendations of the 2006 white paper report that exposes the land scandal of the than former governor of the state Engr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso instead of chasing shadow by embarking on a vendetta mission and face governance.”
Dantiye’s reaction was that the state government had done exactly what the Coalition said by returning the lands in question to the owners who are members of the general public.
He told Daily Trust that “The lands were all returned to the owners. They belong to the public. Those that belong to schools were returned to the schools. Those that belonged to markets, mosques or grave yards were all returned to them.”
He said the state has set up a committee of inquiry about the demolition and that anybody that has complaints should report to the committee, adding that they will be attended to accordingly.
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