CSOs say N3b loot allegation against NEMA boss misleading, mischievous 

The Coalition of Civil Societies under the Aegis of Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG), Integrity Advocacy for Development Initiative and Other Allied Civil Society Organizations has debunked a 3 billion Naira allegation against the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Habib Ahmed.

Comrade Ogakwu Dominic, who spoke on behalf of the CSOs said the allegation was mischievous and intentionally misleading.

He said the allegation made by Jackson Ude @jacksonpbn, on the popular twitter platform now turned X, was unnecessary.

“It is a well-known fact that Jackson Ude has once again toed the path that he is known with, a path of serial blackmailing, campaign of calumny, unverified bias reportage, his notoriety; which is fanning the flames of conspiracy theories, disseminating fake news, and weaving conjectures without a shred of evidence or in-depth credibility. We have overtime learnt through his antics that his style of journalism is strictly on the big brown envelop approach, unfortunately a deadly menace.

“Ordinarily, we would have let the pig to continue fighting in the mud where it belongs, but for want of clarity and avoidance of any action, plan to taint the image of performing public stewards which we heavily frown upon and are avert to, we unanimously resolved to address the media for clarification and balanced reportage.

“Jackson Ude is quite ignorant of the activities of the agency judging from his skewed narrative. NEMA is an interventionist organization which’s major mandate is to address issues that require urgent and prompt responses. In doing so, the agency most times carries out emergency procurement in line with the stipulations of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and other extant regulations.

“It might interest you to know that the issues raised by Ude, has been raised by our organisation and other civil society organisations, but unlike the blackmailer, we wrote to the agency seeking clarification pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2011, and we were presented with detailed documents that showed that all the companies, had met statutory eligibility requirements and the supplies were duly carried by the numerous companies that executed the SNELEI project.

“Kindly note that, the jobs awarded to the aforementioned companies were merely supplies, not contracts pertaining to construction or works that require experience and professionalism.

“The aforesaid companies are well registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, and had all met their Bureau of Public Procurement compliant requirements, hence were all captured in the Federal Contractors database of the BPP, and as such eligible to do business in Nigeria. You may wish to visit: https://federalcontractors.bpp.gov.ng for confirmation of the complaint status of those companies as at 2023.”

He said if Ude was a very compliant journalist and was particular about exposing what he identifies as stealing, he should have written to the agency seeking clarification for a balanced reportage, “but as his usual way of operating, as soon as he got the information, he contacted the Director General via his WhatsApp number, to initiate a chat for further negotiations, but alas, he was left hanging in the air.

“This person who poses as a journalist, has proven himself to being a big pollution in the respected journalism profession, he should not be allowed to continue to bring ridicule to respected members of the fourth estate of the realm. What do you make of a person who continues to hide in the United States of America to perpetrate his evil, shameful, and disgusting trade of cheap blackmails?

“We are of the opinion that the security agencies begin the process of extraditing him to the country to defend his many lies and face the wrath of the law.”