The embattled Kano State commissioner for Transport, Ibrahim Namadi, has allegedly collected $30,000 bribe from a notorious drug dealer, Sulaiman Danwawu, in order to stand as his surety, according to a report filed by the State Security Service, SSS.
Mr Namadi, who was once declared wanted by the police for fraud and later charged with criminal offences in 2013, was appointed as commissioner and member of the Kano State Executive Council by Governor Abba Yusuf.
Sources at the SSS headquarters in Abuja told this newspaper that the service had secretly investigated the bribe-for-bail scandal and also recommended the dismissal of the commissioner to the governor.
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According to the report, the commissioner was paid $30,000 dollars before agreeing to stand as surety for the notorious narco-trafficker.
After widespread public condemnation, the governor constituted an investigative panel to probe the suretyship scandal and submit a report within one week.
Having supported the police to arrest Mr Danwawu and subsequently mounted pressure on the NDLEA not to compromise by releasing him on bail, the governor was incensed by his commissioner’s involvement in the scandal.
“Governor Abba Yusuf sees the commissioner’s action as a direct affront to his government’s war against drug abuse,” said another source.
“Some months ago, the state security council, which is chaired by the governor himself, resolved that the only solution to checking the influx of illicit drugs into Kano was to arrest Danwawu.
“The governor therefore approved a discreet operation to arrest Danwawu, which CP Bakori successfully executed.”