Kwankwaso Demanded N1.3bn For Own House

Alhaji Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso demanded N1.3 billion from the Shekarau administration in lieu of the house of his choice that was to be built for him as governor of the state between 1999 and 2003 as provided for by the law, Kano’s former governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau said in Kano yesterday. Kwankwaso is the current governor of the state, having won last April’s election.

The law in question provides that any civilian governor in the state since 1999 is entitled to a house of his choice, a salary for life, domestic servants and annual vacation at any country of his choice. The law did not however peg a particular amount for the house to be built. The generous provision also applies to deputy governors of the state.

Shekarau was making a clarification over an allegation by some Kwankwaso administration officials that he approved N300 million for the supply of furniture alone to his controversial Mundubawa Avenue residence, which was built for him by the state government.

Shekarau, who spoke through his media aide Sule Ya’u Sule, said when his administration approached Kwankwaso and asked for the type of house he wanted it to build for him as provided for by the law, he submitted to the then government a demand that a house to his taste would cost N1.3 billion. Kwankwaso also demanded that the money be monetized and paid to him, Sule said.

According to Shekarau’s aide, the money demanded by Kwankwaso was reduced by the then administration to N900 million, “since the money budgeted for the house built for Shekarau was not up to N700 million.” He said a voucher for payment of the money was already raised and the amount was about to be paid when Shekarau’s tenure ended and the voucher was left for Kwankwaso to pay himself.

Sule also said N250 million had since been paid to Kwankwaso by the Shekarau administration as monetized funds for the construction of an office as provided for by the law. He described as untrue the allegation by Kwankwaso’s aides that Shekarau’s residence was built by the state government at N3 billion.

He said building of the house in question was done at N420 million (less 10 percent tax) while furniture and other fittings gulped N269 million, also less 10 percent tax.

Sule said contract for the house was handled by a Kano-based indigenous construction firm while the supply of the furniture and other fittings was handled by one of the big shopping malls in Kano.

He also said the whole project was done under the supervision of the state Ministry of Works and Transport. It is not true that Malam Shekarau has many houses in Kano and other places, Sule said, adding that the former governor has no house except the one built for him by the government.

However, Governor Kwankwaso’s media assistant Jaafar Jaafar insisted yesterday that Shekarau’s house was built at N3 billion and not N689 million as claimed by his aides. He alleged that furniture for the house alone gulped N350 million.

Jaafar said the law provides that a former civilian governor is entitled to a six-bed room house, but that Shekarau had a 20-bed room house built for him by the state government.