Abdullahi Ganduje, the former Governor of Kano State, has improperly implicated businessman Ahmad Rabiu in the leaking of confidential documents to PREMIUM TIMES.
These documents revealed a significant financial scandal related to the ownership of Dala Inland Dry Port Limited during Ganduje’s tenure as governor.
According to a report by PREMIUM TIMES, Ahmad Rabiu was taken into custody by plainclothes officers from the Kano State Police Command at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport while trying to board an Air Peace flight to Abuja on Wednesday.
This police action followed a complaint submitted by Ganduje's children and his aide, Abubakar Bawuro. The complaint alleged that Rabiu was the source who provided the sensitive documents to the investigative outlet, which led to the revelation of Ganduje's purported conflict of interest while in office.
After spending two days in detention, Rabiu was brought before the Federal High Court on Friday, facing six counts of defamation. The prosecution's case largely hinges on the findings from the PREMIUM TIMES investigation concerning Dala Inland Dry Port Limited.
The legal petition, consisting of 16 pages and referenced during the court proceedings, did not point out any instances where the publication specifically cited Ahmad Rabiu as the source of the incriminating documents.
In court on Friday, presided over by Justice Samuel Amobede at Federal High Court No. 3 in Kano, Rabiu was charged with several counts of defamation directed toward Ganduje, his two sons—Umar Abdullahi Umar and Muhammad Abdullahi Umar—and his aide, Abubakar Sahabo Bawuro. Rabiu pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Defense attorney Maliki Kuliya informed the court that a bail application had been submitted on January 29 and requested permission to discuss the application. Prosecutor S. O. Ekwe confirmed receipt of the application but asked for a delay to provide a formal response.
Kuliya further asked the court to grant Rabiu administrative bail until the next hearing, promising to ensure his client's presence. After a brief recess, Justice Amobede favored the defense, noting Kuliya's standing as a senior lawyer and former Attorney General of Kano State.
The case was deferred to February 3 for additional proceedings.
In responding to Rabiu's arrest and subsequent court appearance, state prosecutor Muhuyi Magaji, who is prosecuting Ganduje and others in a different case at the state High Court, suggested that these allegations appeared designed to interfere with ongoing legal processes.
Rabiu has been named as one of the prosecution's witnesses against Ganduje in a case where the government alleges that various officials were coerced into signing documents that enabled fraudulent transfers from the state government to private enterprises.
The state government claims that Ganduje conspired with others to illegitimately transfer 80% of the shares in Dala Inland Dry Port, which included a 20% equity stake held by the state, to private ownership under the guise of “City Green Enterprise.”
Moreover, the prosecution alleges that these defendants misappropriated over ₦4.49 billion of state funds to fund infrastructure projects, such as a dual carriageway, electricity supply, and fencing for the dry port for their own enrichment.
Additionally, the defendants are confronted with accusations of abuse of office and conflict of interest for allegedly using their official capacities to misallocate public resources for personal gain, thus violating financial and constitutional laws.
PREMIUM TIMES had exposed how Ganduje clandestinely transferred the state’s 20% ownership of the port facility into private hands, ultimately naming his children as co-owners before facilitating a contract exceeding ₦4 billion for the development of the project.
This transfer relinquished Kano State’s interest in the dry port, while Ganduje's children and aide, Abubakar Bawuro, were installed as directors and stakeholders within the company.
When Dala Inland Dry Port Limited was incorporated on December 8, 2003, the only directors were Ahmad Rabiu and his son, Rabiu Ahmad Rabiu. Two years later, in an extraordinary general assembly held on January 19, 2005, four additional directors were installed: Abdulaziz Haladu, Anwar Isyaku-Rabiu, Diepreye George, and Abdullahi Kwaru.
Records obtained by this outlet show that on March 5, 2020, Ganduje's three children and Bawuro replaced Rabiu's son and all other directors elected in 2005, confirming their appointments in minutes from the AGM held at the company’s office on Zaria Road, Kano.
It was during this meeting that the state’s government was disassociated from the dry port, and the Ganduje children were not only appointed directors but also shareholders, each acquiring five million shares.
According to the meeting’s resolution, all shareholders were present, and it was unanimously decided that Ganduje’s three children be allocated shares,
thus creating a new ownership structure that effectively excluded the Kano State Government from the company’s ownership. The government contended that the necessary legal procedures were not followed in this divestment, accusing Ganduje of misusing his authority to benefit personally.
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