A public Affairs Analyst Prince Kody Okeke has refuted INVESTIGATIVE REPORT by Secrets Reporters News and written by Fejiro Oliver, that the Director General of the Debt Management Office, Abraham Nwankwo has turned the agency to a cash cow.
In a rejoinder sent to our medium, he stated that:
As a reader of social media publications, including yours, I have read your recent publications on the DG of DMO and observed the grave claims therein. While we want to use the social media to advance the pursuit of good governance and accountability, we should also make sure that we do not allow credibility of the media to be destroyed by those pursuing their private and secret agenda of all costs. Are we trying to prove that it is not possible to have at least a few Nigerians who are truly competent with integrity?
Accordingly I wish to comment on the said publications as it raised some doubts in my mind and indeed recommend (lastly) for you to test the claims.
I have observed that the smear campaign against the DG is repeated in the social media every time there is a change in leadership of the country or appointment of a new minister supervising his office since 2007. This means that the character assassination is targeted to poisoning authorities against elevating him or aimed at deceiving them to remove him for somebody else who impatiently wants to take over his position may be from inside the organization.
Many of the false and character assassination claims have been repeated many times since 2007. But they are beefed up with new ridiculous lies which seem to assume that the reading public do not think. For example, it is an insult to intelligence of the reader for the campaigner to claim that he “approved” money to bury his father-in-law. I am sure that this cannot happen in a public agency.
So it is a complete lie which is easy to confirm from the organization. The sinister and hate motive of the smear campaigners is evident in the fact that they are not only attacking the public officer but also his family and children. They even make statements that are meant to traumatize the private family by exposing them to public ridicule. From what one knows about the public service, the engagement of advisers or consultants for raising of Nigeria’s Eurobonds can only be decided by the Federal Executive Council, based on the recommendation the supervising minister and verification and certification by the due process office.
Therefore it is a clear case of unfounded character assassination to disseminate the lie that the public officer inflated fees paid to consultants since he is not responsible for the decisions and approvals but only for the execution of what has been approved.
From all indications, the character assassins are not happy that the public officer is respected among the professionals and other knowledgeable groups both locally and internationally because of his integrity and humlity. They therefore, have taken it as their life project to pull him down with sensational fabrications.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PUBLISHER
The publisher should ask the campaigners for a copy of the “approval” for the N18 million they claim was made by the D-G for AIT advertisement of his father-in-laws recent funeral. This simple test will enable the publisher and readers decide whether the catalogue of claims demonizing the DG are true or fabricated.”, he ended
Meanwhile the reporter has told the newsroom that the corrupt file on Mr Abraham is a series which will be running weekly.