The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Wednesday said he was not a minister when the alleged financial irregularities that led to the embezzlement of about N4.64 billion were carried out in the ministry.

An audit contained in the Annual Report of the Auditor General of the Federation would have revealed the sum from the former Federal Ministry of Works (Housing Section).

The report detailed several issues, including payments made without proper documentation, extra-budgetary expenditures, mobilization fees exceeding approved thresholds, and contracts awarded without due process.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, Umahi’s spokesperson, Mr. Uchenna Orji, described the use of the current minister’s image and name in the publication as petty and self-serving propaganda.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the publication, which is sponsored and circulated in various social media platforms, is nothing but a willful, fraudulent and malicious misrepresentation of the inviolable report of the Auditor General of the Federation.

“The report was said to have investigated the financial management of the then Federal Ministry of Works and Housing between the 2020 and 2021 financial year and accused the Ministry’s housing sector of financial mismanagement and unauthorized spending totaling £4.64 billion .

“Although we know the intention of these detractors, we are surprised that they could be so petty as to rashly and unwisely put the picture and name of the sitting Minister of Works,” the statement added.

The statement pointed out that the minister’s name was used in the national newspaper’s caption to create an impression on gullible and unsuspecting readers that the person being referred to is Umahi.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it was said that the inquiry was done on the financial management of the ministry in the previous administration and not in the Renewed Hope administration,” the minister said.

Umahi said he was not backing down on his resolve to reorganize the works sector and free it from the “whims and whims of cartels”, which he alleged had for years stalled the ministry’s progress in providing cost-effective Nigeria. and sustainable road infrastructure.

“The history and background of the minister is in the public domain. He cannot be blackmailed by the crushes of those who want the old order in the works sector to continue. He is focused and ready to fight against the progress-inhibiting giants in the works sector,” he said.

Emmanuel Addeh

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