Dala Inland Dry Port Nigeria Limited has reacted to a PREMIUM TIMES investigation about the company’s ownership, saying its new owners had no knowledge of any co-ownership by the Kano government before buying the property.

In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the management of the dry port also claimed that documents showing ex-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s children as former shareholders were forged by the founder and former managing director of the port, Ahmad Rabiu.

The management said the new owners acquired the port in 2020 from Mr Rabiu, who allegedly claimed to be the sole owner of the port.

It said the facility is a federally approved project under the supervision of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and it has, since acquiring the dry port, consistently operated with transparency and accountability.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, in March 2020, secretly transferred the state government’s 20 per cent stake in the company to private hands, making his children co-owners before awarding a contract worth over N2.3 billion to provide infrastructure for the project.

The transfer edged Kano State out of ownership, while Mr Ganduje’s children emerged as directors and shareholders. Shortly after, Mr Ganduje, then governor, awarded a contract for works that were originally the state’s responsibility under its equity agreem