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Kano assembly speaker resigns amid bribery allegation

By Murtala Adewale, Kano
04 July 2017   |   4:26 am
Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum yesterday resigned amid allegations of receiving N100 million from Aliko Dangote to subdue the investigation of Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi.

Kano State House of Assembly

House sets up probe panel

Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum yesterday resigned amid allegations of receiving N100 million from Aliko Dangote to subdue the investigation of Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi.

He said he was stepping aside to enable independent investigation into the matter. Meanwhile, the house has appointed Abdullah Yusuf Atah, the member representing Fagge constituency and former majority leader, who has served for the fourth term, as the new speaker of the house.

In a letter signed before his resignation, Rarum, who represents Rano constituency, said it became necessary to step aside to enable the house investigate the allegations of corruption against him.

“Due to the events of the past few days bothering on allegations of corruptions against me and the house, the atmosphere became tense with no direction on where we are heading.

“The first job of the speaker is to protect the institution, which we so much valued and loved. It is my plan to serve as speaker to the end but today has been destined for me to pause in order to protect my integrity, that of my family, friends, supporters and my constituency.

“It is my view that the prolonged leadership turmoil for almost a month would do irreparable damage to this institution. To this end, I hereby step aside as speaker to enable the house investigate the allegations,” he said.

But a source told The Guardian that the ex-speaker deliberately threw in the towel to save his integrity when it became clear that the game was over. It was gathered at the weekend that 32 members of the house had signed his impeachment notice.

They were angry that Rarum received N100 million meant to be shared among them to quash the investigation against the emir but he pocketed the money. Shortly after taking the oath of office, Atah pledged to operate an open door policy while pledging his loyalty to the state government.

In what appears as his first assignment, he inaugurated a seven-member committee to investigate the alleged bribery scandal leveled against the immediate past speaker. The committee was given three months to submit its report and recommendation.

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