“The issue of a gorilla is junk journalism. This is because there is even no gorilla in that zoo. We are told that there was an armed robbery incident in which the entire safe at the zoo was carted away.”
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has said the missing N6.8 million ($22,000) missing from the Kano State Zoological Gardens was not eaten by a gorilla but stolen by armed robbers.
“You know, l already directed the anti-corruption agency in Kano to wade into the issue and they are still investigating. But all l can say now is that preliminary reports indicate that there was an armed robbery at the zoo and not the issue of a gorilla,” he said.
Speaking on the alleged cash-eating gorilla, the governor noted: “The issue of a gorilla is junk journalism. This is because there is even no gorilla in that zoo. We are told that there was an armed robbery incident in which the entire safe at the zoo was carted away.”
Ganduje was reported to have ordered the state's anti-corruption commission to probe the claims that a gorilla in the state-owned zoo swallowed N6.8 million.
“The order was given on Friday and the commission has already swung into action,” a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Abba Anwar, had said on Sunday in Kano.
It quoted the governor as directing the commission to look into the immediate and remote circumstances surrounding the allegation and “unearth everything surrounding the incident”.
Apart from the gorilla, Gandjue too was last year accused of collecting kickbacks from contractors in the state.[story_link align="right"]64488[/story_link]
In 2018, a video showing Governor Ganduje stuffing wads of dollars in his babaringa went viral.
The governor was seen collecting the money before putting them in his white dress.
The governor had since debunked the video as “cloned” and threatened to sue.