THE Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Secretariat has called for police investigation over allegations of financial misdemeanor made by its former Director of Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo.
News Point Nigeria had reported that Barkindo in a leaked letter addressed to Governor AbdulRasaq and sighted by our correspondent, opened a can of worms on the running of the secretariat, saying the NGF is now more transactional than developmental.
Barkindo stressed that it is not an agent of change but “a conduit pipe for a few individuals”, and demanded a forensic audit of all the NGF accounts including those that were opened during crises periods to avoid the “prying eyes of governors in the name of NIGOFO among others.”
But in a statement signed by the legal department of the NGF and made available to News Point Nigeria, Monday morning, the Forum described the content of the letter as ‘inflammatory and misguided allegations and character assassination’.
The statement read in part, “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.”
See full statement below:
NIGERIA GOVERNORS’ FORUM (NGF) SECRETARIAT RESPONSE TO BASELESS ALLEGATIONS BY THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, NGF, MR. ABDULRAZAQUE BELLO BARKINDO
Our attention has been drawn to various social media posts and especially online publications, most recently in many online platforms 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.
Director, Legal for:
Management
