A civil society group, Vanguard for Justice and Equity, has warned mischief makers to desist from sowing seed of discord between the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike and permanent secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, by twisting facts and figures to deceive members of the public.
Some online reports had alleged that the permanent secretary embarked on massive capital projects against presidential directive, recruited over 10,000 staff into the system, allocated choice lands to members of his family among several other malicious and unfounded allegations when he held sway briefly before the assumption of office by the minister.
However, addressing journalists at a media conference, the coordinator of the group, Comrade Martins Obiora, expressed shock at the “web of lies conjured from the imagination of the reporters in a desperate attempt to get rid of the permanent secretary who has done nothing but operate within the dictates of the civil service rules.”
Obiora described the reports of “the permanent secretary using his powers to allocate land in Guzape, Apo, Asokoro Extension and other highbrow places to the Head of Service, those related to the Head of Service and all the Permanent Secretaries,” as unfortunate and calculated to cause rift and paint Mr. Adesola in bad light.
While reacting to the allegation, the group described the report as “unenlightened, a dish of lies,” stressing that no permanent secretary under the laws establishing the FCTA has the powers to allocate land in Abuja.
“It is an established fact that the powers to allocate land in any part of the territory is delegated to the minister by the president and not even the minister of state or the permanent secretary has such powers. So, it is laughable and stretching the imagination for such conjecture,” he stressed.
Obiora further dismissed claims of the appointment of over 10, 000 to bolster the FCTA workforce from 30,000 to 40, 000 within three years with “majority of the employees include: Jehovah Witnesses, where the permanent secretary worships and those from his village.”
“To set the records straight, the permanent secretary met a workforce of 32,703 as at December 2020. In December 2021, the staff count stood at 32,547, and in December 2022, the staff count was 31,860, while in August 2023, the staff count stands at 32,201. You can fact check these figures from the Human Resource Management. Playing ethnic or religious cards will not bury the basic truth,” the group stated.
While fielding questions from reporters on why the permanent secretary usurp the power of the Director of Treasury thus reducing the revenue of the administration as claimed in the report, Obiora stated that the permanent secretary as an accounting officer of the administration has the responsibility to know the inflow and outflow all monies.
According to him, “many people, including those who sponsored the badly hatched job, do not know the functions and responsibilities of the permanent secretary. He is the accounting officer, who is responsible to ensure prudent management of all the finances of the administration.
“And due to the prudent management of resources, the incumbent permanent secretary under his watch has increased the revenue generation from less than N120bn in 2020 to over N180bn in 2023.”
The group also warned those behind the attacks to be wary of litigations as they described Mr. Adesola as “a man of proven integrity, honesty and with sound character, and not given to materialism.
“However, we take solace in the fact that the ‘truth can walk naked, but a lie needs to be dressed at all times and that the FCT minister is not a man who listens to pedestrian talks.
“We know that in this era of politics, mudslinging should be anticipated, but unfortunately they missed their target of attempting to tarnish a hard earned reputation. A case whereby, the reports addressed the permanent secretary as ‘Dr. Olusade Adesola,’ and the former Director of Human Resource as “Professor Muhammad Bashir,’ goes a long way to reduce the credibility of the story.
“We are not unmindful of those behind this antics and would soon name and shame them for descending to such blackmail and falsehood,” Obiora warned.
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