* NGF Secretariat on the verge of imploding – Bello Barkindo
* Allegations are baseless, no crisis here – NGF Mgt
By JACOB KUBEKA, Abuja –
“The Nigeria Governors’ Forum Secretariat is on the verge of imploding under your watch,” a concerned Director of the Secretariat has warned the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman.
The warning is contained in an epistle addressed to AbdulRahman, who is the Governor of Kwara state, in which the Director-General of the Secretariat, Asishana Okauru, has been accused of willful self-aggrandizement and personal gratification that obtains through many illegal transactions.
Going by the allegations in the petition, written by the Director, Media & Public Affairs of the NGF Secretariat, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo (a copy of which NATIONAL ACCORD obtained on Sunday), all is not well at the NGF Secretariat, located on No. 51 Lake Chad Crescent in the high-brow Maitama District of Abuja.
The Management of the NGF Secretariat has however dismissed the claims by mr. Bello-Barkindo, insisting that all is well with the organization.
It centres around Mr. Asishana Okauru, who has held the position of Director-General of the NGF Secretariat for 15 years now.
According to Bello-Barkindo, the Director-General, “whose allegiance lies with somebody outside of the 36 governors that today constitute the Forum, is running an agenda contrary to that of improving the lives and livelihoods of the populace at the subnational level,” while the NGF “is now more transactional than developmental. It is not an agent of change but a conduit pipe for a few individuals.”
He told the Kwara State governor that in those 15 years that Okauru has occupied the office, “instead of a history of progress, the DG and his ED Finance and Admin had turned the Forum and its finances into their personal fiefdom.”
“The fifteen years of sitting as DG has turned Okauru into a despot. He has also personalized the secretariat and shared its properties with his family, friends, and cronies,” he added.
Describing the situation at the NGF Secretariat as a litany of graft. Bello-Barkindo alleged that Millions of Naira were stolen daily through spurious over-invoicing as, according to him, “At different times, the DG and the Executive Directors have had shouting bouts in the open, in the full glare of staff over money. The Secretariats accounts have not been audited in the last decade to say the least, that even the phony auditors invited to mock the auditing process have at various times confessed that the job they are doing for the secretariat is a wash. Has anyone ever wondered why an institution that midwife’s huge monetary deals like the Paris-London refunds does not have a qualified accountant?”
Bello-Barkindo, who made several other scathing allegations in his letter, told the NGF Chairman his life was under threat for “exposing these infractions and several others like them,” adding that his lawyers had filed a suit against Okauru and that “the rest of the revelations will be made in full public glare before a court of law as well as the court of public opinion.”
NGF Secretariat: “Allegations are Baseless”
But a statement issued in Abuja by the “Director, Legal: for Management” titled “NGF Secretariat response to Baseless Allegations by the former Director of Media and Public Affairs, NGF, Mr. Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo,”dismissed the petition saying there was no crisis whatsoever rocking the NGF or its Secretariat.
The statement, made available to NATIONAL ACCORD on Monday, said: Our attention has been drawn to various social media posts and especially online publications, most recently in The Daily Trust online platform regarding certain inflammatory and misguided allegations and character assassination purportedly issued by our erstwhile Director of Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo.
“Though this supposed “breaking news” has been referred to our lawyers for their advice and necessary action on the defamatory nature and contents of the publications, we believe that we owe the general public a responsibility to put the record straight in order to take the wind out of the sail of media sensationalism occasioned by the resignation of the erstwhile Director of Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo, who resigned his appointment with The Forum on the 7th of December, 2023 and whose resignation has been duly accepted by the Forum.
“We assure the public, all our development partners and friends that there is no crisis whatsoever rocking the NGF or its Secretariat. According to the publication, the reckless allegations made in the publication and credited to Mr Barkindo are already being investigated by the Police and also a subject matter of a suit pending before a court of law, hence as a law-abiding organization, we shall co-operate fully with the Police in their investigation and ensure the prosecution of any individual that is behind this unwarranted attack.
“We want to assure our concerned friends and development partners who have been waiting anxiously for our comments, that there is no substance whatsoever in the allegations contained in the publication and that our refrain from joining issues is as a result of the need not to do or engage in any activity that may interfere with or prejudice the on-going investigation and court action instituted by Mr Barkindo.
“We also want to use this medium to appeal to all well-meaning Media houses not to allow their platform to be used by disgruntled elements in the dissemination of falsehood as we shall not shy away from vigorously defending our reputation and goodwill. We wish to reiterate that Mr. Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo is no longer an employee of the NGF. Anyone dealing with him on account of his employment at the NGF does so at his/her own risk.”
