A former commissioner in Akwa Ibom State during the tenure of former Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday debunked speculations that he donated N1.billion to a commercial bank.
Mr. Aniekan Umana, who was Commissioner for Information and Communication, described the claim as “infantile and baseless”.
Akpabio is the Senate Minority Leader, who Umana said those “spreading falsehood” want to bring down. Umana, in a statement yesterday, said:” I was part and parcel of that administration and I also had the privilege of serving in the two administrations. Whatever I say on this matter can be further verified at the office of the Attorney-General of the state and the Finance and General Purpose Committee (FGPC), which was and I believe it is still the body that approves and awards contracts.
“The purported N1.4bilion alleged to be a donation by the former governor, I can recall, was in respect of a contract awarded to Triple A, for the apron expansion and private hangar for the government-owned aircraft at the Ibom International airport, which work had commenced and the imported equipment were all inside the containers at the airport.
“It is intructive to educate those making the comment that neither the FGPC, nor the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, which are the organs of government empowered to scrutinise the spending and disbursement of public funds have levelled such misdemeanours against the past and current governments.”
Umana alleged that those making the claims were trying “to drag the name of the former governor into the mud. Because they failed to secure the support and endorsement of the former governor on their ill-fated ambition and they must bring Akpabio down at all costs”.
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