The Chairman of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), Muhuyi Rimingado, has accused one of the individuals under investigation by his commission of using the police to have him arrested.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief program on Monday, Rimingado stated that his arrest last week was directly related to his role as the head of the anti-corruption agency.
He described the development as unsurprising, noting that “corruption is fighting back. When you fight corruption, corruption will fight back. Anti-corruption fight (is) fair but corruption fight is dirty”.
Rimingado said three different federal agencies have been activated against him, saying “there are lots of activities going around targeted against my person”.
On why he was arrested last week, the Kano anti-graft chair said, “There was an investigation that we carried out and we realised that about N4bn of funds of Kano State Government has been siphoned through different entities by a public officer.
“We investigated that public officer and we seized the properties in accordance with the laid-down procedures and the provisions of the law. Section 40 of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission provides adequate provisions and we did and we charged the matter to court.
“After the arraignment and the detainment of the accused, he came up with a series of tactics to snatch away the exhibit of the crime and that is not allowed in law. So, we employed moves that entailed roving the property from where it is to a different safe place so that it would not be tampered with till the court decides on the matter. I think that is what ignited them.
“When they cannot wait for the court processes and they know they cannot succeed in that case, they now activate the police to arrest me.”
He said the policemen who came for his arrest accused him of abuse of power, mischief, and trespass. He said he questioned the accusations saying that his commission was empowered by law to prosecute suspects of corrupt practices.