A civil society group under the auspices of the Pro-Impact Initiative has warned mischief makers to desist from sowing seeds of discord between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and permanent secretary, Olusade Adesola, by twisting facts and figures to deceive members of the public.
The coordinator, of Pro-Impact Initiative, Dr Osamudiamen Isokpehi who briefed journalists over the weekend in Abuja called on peddlers of lies and fabricators of allegations against the Permanent Secretary to dedicate their brains and energy to more fruitful and meaningful ventures that will help move Abuja city forward.
The group appealed to them not to distract the FCT minister, who from day one has left no one in doubt over his noble intentions to rid the city of Illegalities and ensure massive infrastructural development.
Isokpehi who was responding to a write-up titled: ‘ Why FCT Perm Sec Must Be Sacked And Arrested Now’ credited to Babalola Tajudeen which was being circulated in online media alleging unfounded misconduct against the Permanent Secretary of the FCT Administration.
He noted that his organisation after studying the write up was of the view to leave it in the bin of falsehood where it was from and remains, but resolved to respond for the sake of well-meaning residents, saying, there is the need to state the truth and set the record straight.
Isokpehi pointed out that contrary to what he described as a ‘satanic lie’ that Olusade plotted the removal of his predecessor, Sir Christian Ohaa, whom he still maintains a cordial relationship to date, he was posted to the FCTA during a major reshufflement of Permanent Secretaries which was approved by the then President.
He reminded those behind the write-up that it was on August 28, 2020, that President Muhammadu Buhari redeployed Sir Ohaa from FCTA to The Ministry of Power and brought Olusade to the FCTA in an exercise that saw the redeployment of 13 permanent secretaries and deployment of the 12 new permanent secretaries who were sworn in two days before.
According to him, the posting was contained in a circular signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan.
The circular, marked HCSF/CMO/AOD/012/V.III/39, is dated August 28, 2020.
“We believed strongly that it was these same elements who never gave Sir Christian Ohaa peace during his days as permanent secretary as they dragged him to Berekete Radio and continued to write a series of petitions against him when the former minister, Muhammed Musa Bello was reappointed in 2019. Lest we forget.
“They also wrongly accused Sir Ohaa Of employing only his kinsmen from Enugu state, which was easily proven to be false. They also demanded his removal and called for him to be probed. Now they are on another mission to do what they know how to best,” he said.
Similarly, another civil society group, Vanguard for Justice and Equity, described some online reports alleging that the permanent secretary embarked on massive capital projects against the presidential directive, recruited over 10,000 staff into the system, allocated choice lands to members of his family among several other malicious and unfounded allegations when he held sway briefly before the assumption of office by the minister.
The coordinator of the group, Comrade Martins Obiora, expressed shock at the “web of lies conjured from the imagination of the reporters in a desperate attempt to get rid of the permanent secretary who has done nothing but operate within the dictates of the civil service rules.”
Obiora described the reports of “the permanent secretary using his powers to allocate land in Guzape, Apo, Asokoro Extension and other highbrow places to the Head of Service, those related to the Head of Service and all the Permanent Secretaries,” as unfortunate and calculated to cause rift and paint Mr. Adesola in bad light.
While reacting to the allegation, the group described the report as “unenlightened, a dish of lies,” stressing that no permanent secretary under the laws establishing the FCTA has the powers to allocate land in Abuja.
“It is a fact that the powers to allocate land in any part of the territory are delegated to the minister by the president and not even the minister of state or the permanent secretary has such powers. So, it is laughable and stretching the imagination for such conjecture,” he stressed.
Obiora further dismissed claims of the appointment of over 10,000 to bolster the FCTA workforce from 30,000 to 40,000 within three years with “the majority of the employees include Jehovah Witnesses, where the permanent secretary worships and those from his village.”
“To set the records straight, the permanent secretary met a workforce of 32,703 as of December 2020. In December 2021, the staff count stood at 32,547, and in December 2022, the staff count was 31,860, while in August 2023, the staff count stood at 32,201. You can fact-check these figures from the Human Resource Management. Playing ethnic or religious cards will not bury the basic truth,” the group stated.