THE Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, has stated that the immediate past Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, is better positioned to respond to the audit query concerning an unauthorised expenditure in the ministry and not him.
The minister, who spoke through his Special Adviser (Media), Hon. Orji Uchenna Orji stated this while addressing a news report on an audit query indicting the Ministry of Works and Housing for financial mismanagement and unauthorised expenditure totalling ₦4.64bn during the 2020–2021 financial year.
News Point Nigeria had reported that an audit report has uncovered financial irregularities totalling over N4.64bn in the Federal Ministry of Works (Housing Sector), raising concerns about systemic non-compliance with financial regulations and procurement laws.
The findings, contained in the Auditor-General for the Federation’s Annual Report, cover activities between 2020 and 2021 and reveal significant lapses in internal controls under Babatunde Fashola, the former Minister of Works and Housing.
The report details several issues, including payments made without proper documentation, extra-budgetary expenditures, mobilisation fees exceeding approved thresholds, and contracts awarded without following due process.
But Umahi said: “Our attention has been drawn to a piece of petty and self-serving propaganda contained in the trending publication made by a newspaper (name withheld) on 20th November 2024, and the unwarranted and insensible sensations sought to be achieved by the makers of the publication.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the publication, which has been sponsored and circulated on various social media platforms, is nothing but an intentional, fraudulent, and mischievous misrepresentation of the inviolable report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
“The report is said to have investigated the financial management of the then Federal Ministry of Works and Housing during the 2020–2021 financial year, indicting the Housing Sector of the Ministry for financial mismanagement and unauthorised expenditure totalling ₦4.64bn.
“While we understand the intentions of these detractors, we are surprised by the pettiness of brazenly and unconscionably placing the picture and name of the serving Honourable Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, in the caption of their publication. This was clearly done to mislead gullible and unsuspecting readers into believing that the individual referenced was the current Honourable Minister of Works.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the investigation was said to have been conducted on the financial management of the Ministry under the previous administration, not under the Renewed Hope administration and therefore, the former minister should answer the query not Engr Umahi.
“Indeed, we are astonished at the desperation of the sponsors of the publication and their paid jobbers, whose intention is to distract the Honourable Minister or tarnish his hard-earned reputation for insisting on best practices and value for money in the works sector.
“The activities of these desperate detractors are well known, but they should rest assured that there is no going back on the Honourable Minister’s determination to revamp the works sector and liberate it from the whims and caprices of cartels who, for years, have hindered progress in providing Nigeria with cost-effective and enduring road infrastructure.
“The track record and antecedents of the Honourable Minister of Works are well known and in the public domain. He cannot be blackmailed by the antics of those seeking to perpetuate the old order in the works sector.
“He remains focused and battle-ready against the major inhibitors of progress in the sector”.