Umana Okon Umana, the minister of Niger Delta affairs, has denied accusations made against him, including a fictitious and defamatory assertion of an N480 billion fraud.
Umana stated that no fraud has been committed in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs while he has been in charge, dismissing the fraudulent accusations that had been submitted to the National Assembly by professional petition writers.
He said as much, and no funds have been issued or spent on the petition's cited initiatives.
The Minister stated that revisions had been made to the NDDC's 2022 budget plans in accordance with his mandate from the National Council's most recent meeting in order to include key regional infrastructure projects based on a new framework for the development of the Niger Delta area.
” It is senseless for the petitioners to allege that the compilation of projects to include in the budget proposals of NDDC for 2022 for transmission to the National Assembly is a crime.
“Everything is at the proposal stage; no contracts have been awarded and no money has been disbursed or expended,” he said. “Anything to the contrary is false and should be dismissed in its entirety,” he said.
Umana also refuted another allegation that he sacked 700 workers in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on assumption of duty as Minister.
Umana said he has not sacked or approved the sack of 700 workers of the Commission.
The Minister recalled that on assumption of duty, he was briefed by both the ministry and the NDDC, whose interim administrator at the time complained of a bloated staff strength which made him (the Minister) to ask what the interim administrator had done about it.
The Minister said after the inaugural briefing, the interim administrator of the NDDC never came back to him on any action he had taken or planned to take on the issue and whatever he did about “the bloated staff strength” he had complained of had no ministerial approval.
The allegation of non-performance peddled in the same petition is also baseless. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs reports to the President, and not to hired petition writers. It is the President that assesses the performance of his Ministers.