Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has described as false, twisted and distorted a report alleging a N1.08 billion corruption scandal in the agency.
The DMO said the alleged corruption scandal published in a national newspaper (not THISDAY) was the handiwork of “disgruntled elements who have not only breached the Civil Service Rules but have also contravened laid-down procedures for dealing with official matters.”
In a statement issued in reaction to the allegation, the DMO stated “unequivocally that the story is false, full of lies”, adding that the documents referred to in the report had been twisted and distorted with the intention to misinform the general public in a bid to discredit the institution.
Describing the story as far from being a true representation of the dealings in the DMO, the agency described itself as an accountable, transparent and responsible organisation that works in accordance with laid-down civil service procedures and is highly regarded by multilateral agencies and financial institutions as a reputable government agency.
“The sponsors of the story are disgruntled elements who have not only breached the Civil Service Rules but have also contravened laid down procedures for dealing with official matters.
“These officials, who have resorted to illegally leaking official documents due to their recent redeployment, have colluded with other disgruntled persons who have failed in their attempts to control the running of the affairs of the DMO, which has blocked their ability to pilfer public funds.
“The story referred to documents that, on their own, are incomplete and do not reflect the whole story or the purpose of any transaction. The claims that events and travels by officials of the DMO either did not take place or did not hold are false and an attempt to discredit the impeccable records of the organisation, ” the statement said.
According to the DMO, “these speak to their desperation to give the institution a bad name.”
The debt management agency regretted that it was unfortunate that a reputable news medium would lower its guard by allowing its platform to be used to promote falsehood by disgruntled and fraudulent elements in the DMO without cross-checking with the management of the organisation.
In line with laid-down Civil Service Regulations, the agency said it would brief relevant security agencies in the country to thoroughly investigate the sources of the documents, on which the sponsors based their story, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book in line with Public Service Rules No. 030401 and 030402 which prescribes dismissal for unauthorized disclosure of official information as a serious act of misconduct.
