Former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso may be heading for a collision course with the law following his refusal to honour an invitation by the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
A report by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that Mr Kwankwaso, a chieftain of the main opposition party, PDP, was asked to appear at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja last Thursday but he neither turned up nor gave a reason for his absence.
It was gathered that the EFCC wanted the powerful politician to answer questions from investigators working on allegations that he abused public office, diverted public funds, and unjustly allocated public houses to his cronies.
While he has remained incommunicado, sources within the EFCC said the politician could be arrested if continues to shun the request mandating him to appear for questioning.
The provenance of the investigation was a 2015 petition by Concerned Kano State Workers and Pensioners, who alleged that Mr Kwankwaso violated the Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law of 2007 in the management of pension remittances amounting to about N10 billion contributed between 2011 and 2015.
Mr Kwankwaso was Kano governor from 2011 to 2015. Previously, he held the position between 1999 and 2003.
According to the petitioners, Mr Kwankwaso had directed that pension remittances be used for housing development, largely to favour the pensioners.
Then, a tripartite deal was reached between Kano State Pension Trust Funds as the investors and Kano State Investment and Property Limited and Kano State Housing Corporation Limited as developers on a 60:40 sharing ratio.
However, after contracts for the construction of 1,579 houses were awarded for the development of ” Kwankwasiya, Amana, and Bandarawa Cities”, the petitioners alleged, Mr Kwankwaso “manipulated” the process to terminate the term of the agreement and made outright allocations in favour of his aide and cronies.
The alleged manipulation happened in May 2015, the month Mr Kwankwaso left office as Kano’s governor.
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