Kano Governor’s Aide, Abdullahi Rogo, Under Probe in Corruption Scandal

The Director-General of Protocol to the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Rogo, has been accused of allegedly committing money laundering by The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and is currently under investigation. 

Investigators from both anti-graft agencies allege that Rogo diverted and laundered N6.5 billion owned by the Kano state government, siphoning state funds through BDC operators, shell companies, and personal accounts, which have now been frozen under Post No Debit (PND) restrictions. 

The probe began in April when the ICPC obtained an ex parte motion seeking to seize N142 million “reasonably suspected to have been acquired illegally” and linked to Rogo. The court granted a final forfeiture of the N142 million, ruling that it was proceeds of corruption connected to Rogo. Since then, the ICPC has recovered over 1.1 billion connected to Rogo, some of which investigators say were funnelled through companies such as H&M Nigeria Limited, A.Y. Maikifi Petroleum, and Ammas Oil and Gas Limited. They have revealed that the companies had transferred N1.17 billion from the state treasury, which was then converted into US dollars, and allegedly handed to Rogo in cash. 

In a turn of events, Rogo has filed a suit at the Kano State High Court, Bichi Division, seeking to prevent his arrest and prosecution despite his confessional statement to the anti-graft agencies. In response, both the EFCC and ICPC have presented their counter-affidavits, strongly admitting that substantial evidence exists against the suspect. The counsel for the ICPC urged the court to dismiss Rogo’s application and called it an “abuse of court process.”

Abduallahi Rogo’s case is not an isolated one.  Contrary to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s pledge to deal with corruption, the Kano state government has come under scrutiny for the involvement of its officials in corruption scandals. The ICPC recently alleged that the Chairman of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), Sani Malumfashi, and the Commission’s secretary, Anas Mustapha, and a deputy director of the accounts department, transferred over N1 billion from the Commission’s Unity Bank account to a private company disguised as payments for ad-hoc electoral staff, despite evidence that the staff had been paid.

Amid these revelations, the coalition of Civil Society Organisations situated in Kano has called on the Kano state governor to immediately suspend the officials involved in these corruption scandals, stating that it has cast a “dark shadow” over his administration.