Re: Director resigns over ‘Shekarau’s N50m gift’

The story stated that the director regarded his posting from the Rural and Community Development Ministry to that of Education Ministry as a punishment for his role in the exposition of the alleged withdrawal before the public’s knowledge. Umar therefore, did not only reject his posting but also offered to resign his appointment. The Head […]

The story stated that the director regarded his posting from the Rural and Community Development Ministry to that of Education Ministry as a punishment for his role in the exposition of the alleged withdrawal before the public’s knowledge. Umar therefore, did not only reject his posting but also offered to resign his appointment.

The Head of Service was also quoted in the report as saying that the general posting that involved Umar was a routine exercise and therefore, has no correlation with the alleged withdrawal of N50 million from the account of the Ministry of Rural and Community Development. When contacted over the matter, the Special Senior Assistant (Media and Public Relations) to the Governor denied knowledge of Governor Ibrahim Shekarau about the matter. As at the time of putting up this piece, the top management of the Ministry of Rural and Community Development had not made response to the matter.

The journalist who reported the story ought to have interviewed or rather investigated from the ministry concerned for a balanced report; and to enable the reading public have a grasp of what transpired in the ministry. This report only presented the governor in bad light. Perhaps, the governor was not aware of the financial transaction of that ministry as informed by his Senior Special Assistant. Yet, some groups like the Labour Party (LP) is asking for the governor’s head based on this speculation.

Be that as it may, this write up is not meant to defend anybody but to point out a very vital point akin to true justice and fair play. It should be noted that it is not normal in the civil service to reject inter-ministerial or departmental transfer except one has a skeleton in his cupboard. Thus, the rejection of transfer of Umar from the Ministry of Rural and Community Development to the Ministry of Education as a normal routine of the civil service should not have been seen by Umar as bedrock for fighting his employer- the government.

His reaction in this respect can be misunderstood as a cover up of some corrupt practices, which may not be far from the truth. If there was a N50 million Sallah gift scam, and Umar believes that his hands are clean, ordinarily he would not have been bothered with the matter. The import of his reaction with such vexation in the office of the Head of Civil Service is a sign of his fear against possible discovery of a hidden agenda.

Going by what the paper reported, the investigation of this alleged disbursement is necessary.

As a matter of fact, resigning his appointment simply because he was reposted to a ministry he believes is a desert financially wanes the sympathy people may have for him. Why is he in the first place so interested in serving only in the Ministry of Rural and Community Development if his reason for working in this ministry is not selfish but service to humanity? Would he not have accepted working in any other ministry? There are more to this!

There is the urgent need for the Commissioner of Rural and Community Development to open up on this issue, at least, to put the reading public on the right path.

Saka Raji Audu writes from Kano ([email protected])