The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, has denied allegation by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he is on a spending spree to woo voters for President Goodluck Jonathan to actualise his re-election bid.
The splinter group of the party, some of whose leaders have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) had accused the minister of reckless spending, challenging him “to give account of how he got the billions of naira he has been spending recently to push a political agenda.”
But the minister in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Innocent Ebirim, a copy of which was made available to SHIPS & PORTS DAILY denied the allegation.
He described the allegation as “childish outburst and false alarm raised by the discredited and outlawed members of the so-called New PDP.”
The statement further described the allegation as “mischievous attack” politically designed against the minister “by sworn enemies of this administration to unleash vituperations, vilifications, mudslinging, character assassination, pull down syndrome against the credible, highly-rated and well-performing members of the Federal Executive Council, particularly Umar who has revamped the rail sector, reformed the port, secured our maritime domain, developed our in-land water ways among others.”
He said the minister had never engaged in any reckless expenditure or induced his people in Gombe State to love the president.
“Already, the majority of people in the state love President Jonathan because of his good governance and amazing democracy dividends in the state and as such, do not need any personal material inducement as a condition to love him. The state is not for sale. It is an insult to allege that they are being compromised to support the president.
“So, after examining the ridiculous and laughable content of the allegations, the best option should have been to dismiss it as the ranting of drowning men looking for who will sink along with them. On the second thought, it became necessary to refute the allegations through the following clarifications because of the impunity culture where innocent people are tried and unfortunately found guilty in the court of public opinion,” Ebirim said.
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