By Ebriku John Friday
A Civil Society Organisation, CSO, Competent Governance for Accountability and Civic Trust, CGACT, Wednesday, condemned alleged moves and calls for removal of the Comptroller General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Audi, over alleged nepotism, contract kickback, award of contracts to cronies and secret recruitment of personnel into the corps.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Executive Director, CGACT, Amb Godwin Erheriene, where it pointed out that the allegations were like empty sacks that cannot stand, because there is no concrete evidence to back them up.
The statement reads in part, “The Competent Governance for Accountability and Civic Trust (CGACT) would like to use this medium to advice those set of persons vehemently at the fore of the ongoing campaign for the removal of the head of the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, on allegations bordering on the following: Nepotism, contract kickback, awarding of contracts to cronies and blood relatives and secret recruitment.
“The aforementioned are too weighty to be laid on someone without concrete evidence as back up. The reason being is that if these allegations leveled against Dr Audi are mere response to sentimental suspicions, then it’s very denting on a painstaking career built overtime.
“Now these allegations are too weighty like we said and must be logically dissected in order to set the records straight. We stand for what we are convinced to be right.
“We will take every allegations one after the other as a buttress to our stand for what is right. Dr Audi is barely month in office so logically, and needs probably, at least, one to two years as CG to be able to perpetrate these allegations, especially the ones bordering on finance.”
The statement further pointed that, “Also the Paramilitary does not do secret recruitment. So, therefore, for the recruitment to be a success, the recruits need to have an IPPIS number, and for that to be done, that means it’s a public affair and not a private one.
“Secondly, the area bordering on nepotism should not be confused and misinterpreted out of context. People work with people they understand.
“Government contracts are procedural. They follow a bureaucracy. So Dr Abubakar Audi cannot just award contract to just anyone. All these allegations are response of envy.”
The group also in the statement pointed that all allegations were “products of office grapevine as ‘hearsay’ allegations does not hold water.”
“If anyone is aggrieved, he or she should channel his/her displeasure to the appropriate quarters not by destroying a reputation that has taken painstaking effort to build overtime.
The statement added, “We the Civil Society Organisation will continue to be the societal watchdog as we will continue to criticize, blow whistle, condemn and raise alarm when necessary if we find any public office holder wanting.
“However, we will equally appreciate, applaud and make recommendation when necessary.”
