‘First Lady didn’t order sack at Amnesty Office’

The Presidential Amnesty Office has dismissed reports by an online portal that the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, ordered the sack of some of its workers over leaked documents of a contract scam.

An online news agency quoted Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo as telling some senior officials of the Office that Mrs. Buhari directed him to sack some workers.

But a statement yesterday by Dokubo’s media aide, Murphy Ganagana, said the report was concocted to achieve a mischievous and sinister motive.

He stressed that the Office of the First Lady does not interfere in the affairs of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and at no time requested or directed Prof. Dokubo to sack any worker.

Ganagana noted that no worker of the Presidential Amnesty Programme was sacked for any reason whatsoever, and there was no contract scam at the Amnesty Office.

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The statement reads: “The report on Pointblanknews is standing truth on its head; its claim that Prof. Dokubo was tongue-lashed by senior officials of the presidency who queried him over leaked deals, is a wicked lie that could only emanate from the devil. Prof. Dokubo was neither invited nor queried by the presidency over leaked deals or documents, and he did not get any directive to sack any worker of the Amnesty Office.

“The latest missile fired at Prof Dokubo and the Amnesty Programme is in reaction to a failed attempt which crumbled and missed its target, following a lucid presentation of facts on the alleged N3.2 billion contract scam by the Amnesty Office to the public. This has no doubt punctured the credibility of Pointblanknews, and like a wounded lion, it is splashing muddied water at Prof. Dokubo to smear him.

“We reiterate that there is no contract scam in the Amnesty Programme, and no dime was paid to the two companies as alleged by Pointblanknews. No worker has been sacked, either on a directive of the First Lady or for any other reason whatsoever.

“However, it should be emphasised that as a public agency, workers of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, engaged either as consultants or civil servants, are subject to Public Service Rules 030302 to 030306 relating to disciplinary procedures for misconduct.

“To this end, six workers of the Amnesty Office, comprising four consultants and two civil servants, were recently suspended for breaching provisions of the Public Services Rules, and are expected to appear before a legally-constituted panel in accordance with statutory procedure.

“The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, is an embodiment of discipline, high moral standards, forthrightness and compassion. She is a beacon of hope to womanhood, pillar of encouragement and support whose modest contributions to national progress should be appreciated.”