PAP Lambasts Mischief Makers’ Claims on N187m Consultancy Service, Stationery Supply
- Says transactions not in Dikio’s tenure
Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa
The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), has branded those insinuating that the contract of N187 million, which is being probed by a Senate committee, was executed during the tenure of Col. Milland Dixon Dikio, as mischief makers.
The PAP said that it was inconceivable for the reports to give the impression that the Senate summoned Dikio for allegedly paying N187million for supply of stationery and consultancy fee for end of year meeting and vocational training.
Dikio on Media, Mr. Neotabase Egbe, said in a statement that the incident occurred in 2017, and the circular for the query succinctly captured the date and other details.
Egbe said that if the reporters were not acting the scripts of their paymasters they would have launched an investigation that would have fulfilled the time tested journalistic ethics of factual reporting.
He stressed that the notice of the query, which had 2017 payment voucher would have ordinarily saved them from gross misrepresentation of facts.
He said the amnesty office had not received series of invitations from the senate as claimed by the reports.
According to him, Dikio has high regard for institutions of government saddled with the responsibility of carrying out its statutory function.
Egbe said: “The report widely circulated in some national dailies does not represent the true situation of things. The said incident for the supply of stationery and consultancy services for end of year happened way back in 2017.
“It was, therefore, surprising that for obvious monetary gains, mischief and deliberate action to discredit the interim administrator, the authors of the story couldn’t verify from the office.
“Even the nomenclature of the office from the circular showed that the occupant of the office was still referred to as Special Adviser, whereas since the coming of Dikio, it has been rightly changed as administrator.”
He called on journalists to always cross check with the amnesty’s office to avoid such embarrassing reports, maintaining that Dikio’s mantra of probity and accountability remained changed.
