The former Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has insisted that those that plotted his suspension should apologise to him for accusing him of financial impropriety.
In a statement on Monday, he said six months after the suspension, nothing has been proven against him, describing the allegations levelled against him as false, baseless and laughable.
The former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari said the grant given to his Panel was controlled by the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government.
“One of the spurious allegations levelled against me that led to my purported suspension was ‘financial impropriety.’ This allegation is false, baseless and indeed laughably. Throughout my nearly two years as Chairman of SPIP, I was never involved in any financial transaction under any guise!
“The take-off grant of the Panel was domiciled in the office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation who was totally in charge of the control and management of the funds of the Panel. The Panel suffered as a result of the lack of adequate funding,” Obono-Obla said.
He however disclosed that the Panel only enjoyed a donation of N20 million from the NDIC to enable it furnish its office noting that he never saw a kobo of the money.
According to him, he had instructed his procurement officer to ensure that government’s financial regulations and the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, “were scrupulously followed to ensure transparency and accountability.”
He said his instruction was complied with, wondering why his traducers would accuse him of financial impropriety.
“Till this moment, six months after my suspension, this allegation has not been proven. It has simply become reminiscent to ‘giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it,” he added.
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