The palace of Nigeria’s Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, has denied allegations that the influential Muslim leader has embezzled government money allocated to the palace since his ascent to the throne in 2015.
The state’s Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission said earlier that it was investigating corruption allegations against Mr Sanusi.
Palace financial secretary Mahe Bashir Wali denied at a press conference that the emir had bought executive cars, including a Rolls Royce, with government money.
He said friends had given the vehicles to Mr Sanusi as a gift.
Mr Wali also denied that the emir used government funds to fly in privately charted planes, saying he did this with his own money.
He disclosed that the palace would co-operate with the investigation and would present to the anti-corruption agency evidence of all expenses since Mr Sanusi’s appointment in 2014.
The emir also denied embezzling money the palace inherited from his predecessor, Al-Haji Ado Bayero, Mr Wali said.
During the week, the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, acting on public petition, launched an investigation into the accounts of the Kano Emirate Council over allegations of ‘questionable expenditures’ running into billions of naira over a short period of time,”
The Emir is alleged to have spent without trace, the sum of N4billion left behind by the late Emir, Ahaji Ado Ibrahim. The Commission has pledged to make its findings public
Denying that the state government had any hand in the investigation, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammadu Garba, said the Commission was independently investigating the allegations based on complaints and petition by some unnamed persons.
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