Group Warns Against The Continuous Blackmailing Of Dr. Aham Uko, Gives Detail Clarification On All Allegations

A group by the name Coalition of Right Fighters Nigeria (CRFN), has warned against what they described as deliberate continuous blackmailing of the former Abia State Commissioner of Finance Dr. Aham Uko.

In a letter written to ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER and signed by one Ositadinma Ikeogu, the group posited that the attacks on the image of Dr. Aham have continued unbated for months even when the former commissioner kept mute. They made it clear that the continued attack is a clear testament that some political bigwigs are sponsoring fake news conveyor platforms.

[caption id="attachment_166199" align="alignnone" width="750"] Former Abia State Commissioner of Finance Dr. Aham Uko.[/caption]

"To avoid these continued attacks, we have decided to bring out the facts surrounding all the allegations after our extensive research"

THE FACTS AS STATED BY COALITION OF RIGHT FIGHTERS NIGERIA (CRFN):

Dr. Aham was not an Assistant General Manager in the Bank, he was a Group Deputy General Manager (DGM) as far back as 2005, while his last banking assignment was Managing Director of UBA in Sierra Leone in 2009. His stay in the bank was not infamous, otherwise, he could not have been sent on cross posting to another country as MD/CEO.

Dr. Aham does not have as at today, a SINGLE Plot of Land allocated by Government in Abia State, nor ANY STORE/SHOP in any Market in Abia State despite the fact that his Ministry was privy to a huge financial support provided by the State Government for the reconstruction of the Markets in ABA, including Ariaria Market. Please, the Public could verify these facts as well.

During his brief stay in the Ministry of Environment as Commissioner, the following Erosion remediation sites were fully completed and commissioned with adjoining Asphalted roads with drains contiguous to the site and Environmental support Amenities to the Communities affected.

Umuagu-Ibeku/Umuda-Amachara- Isingwu Erosion site, including the by-pass from Ossah to Uzuakoli Road (sign board) in Umuahia North LGA.
Umuda- Achara-Isuochi Erosion site in Umunneochi LGA.
Amuzukwu-Ibeku Erosion site in Umuahia North L.G.A.
Umuogele-Umuakwu Erosion site in Isiala Ngwa North LGA.
Umuezeukwu- Nsulu Erosion site in Isiala Ngwa North LGA.
Re-modeling and beautification of the iconic Abia Tower.
Complete closure of the refuse dump site on the Ubakala section of the Umuahia-Aba Express Road etc.

During the 2019 yearly Country Portfolio Performance Review (CPPR) meeting held in Abuja, while he was the Commissioner for Environment, Abia NEWMAP was rated the best in Nigeria.

The mentioned Street Light Project was between Umuahia and Aba. The Committee that Dr. Aham Uko headed only concentrated on Street Light Projects in Umuahia and, practically all he installed since 2017/18 are still in working condition till date. Without this singular effort, Umuahia would have been in total darkness. He did not pocket a dime. The total cost of the project was N100,000,000 (One Hundred Million Naira) for Umuahia and N100,000,000 (One Hundred Million Naira) for Aba. He was not responsible for the light installation project in Aba.

Dr. Aham Uko was never involved in any loan negotiation whatsoever, neither was he a signatory to any Government Account. He was not part of any loan disbursement.

He was never involved in any kickback and could not have been involved in any. That allegation is a mere blackmail. Please, release the signatories and names of those Accounts. This is an allegation from the Pit of Hell. No known Committee was set-up whatsoever to investigate him. He was never invited to appear before any Panel throughout his stay as Commissioner. Please, anybody that has the Committee report of any Panel Set-up to investigate Dr. Uko should publish it or desist from merely dropping names to make falsehood appear real.

The Pension Verification exercise which the finance Ministry spent only but N48,000,000 was conducted in the entire state which involved pensioners in 19 sub-treasuries located in the 17 LGA's of Abia State, included the cost of the Server, Lap Tops, Generators, Fans, recruitment and payment of 150 Ad-hoc staff, provision of Ambulances and Medical intervention facilities, and other logistics etc. This exercise was quoted for N350,000,000 (Three Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) by a consultant and it was done in Imo State for about N400,000,000 (Four Hundred Million Naira). The facts are there to verify.

Dr. Aham did not also get any allowance for his office that was not statutorily approved by the Governor. All approval documents could be found in the Finance Ministry.

Dr. Aham Uko had no business relationship whatsoever with officials of any Development Agency, rather during his stay as Commissioner for Finance, notable initiatives amongst many were achieved.

He was the Technical Lead, States' Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS) for which Abia State obtained an Award from the World Bank Group and earned over Seventeen Billion Naira (N17,000,000,000) as Grant from the World Bank.

He was the Chairman of State Steering Committee on Nigeria COVID- 19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme (NG-CARES) during this period, Abia State came first (1st) in the South East and Fourth (4th) in the entire South East/South South after the Independent Verification Agents/Assessment led by the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the World Bank in 2022 for which the State earned N2.1 Billion as Grant for Livelihood support to vulnerable households and firms.

He introduced and implemented the Abia State HR/Payroll Automated Project using the Veripay Suite Solution that eliminated a huge number of ghost workers, name mismatching, duplication of accounts, delay in Salary payments and general end-to-end Salary Administration.

During his tenure as Finance Commissioner, Abia State came third (3rd) only after Lagos and Abuja by a rating assessment conducted by Nigeria Bureau of Statistics for Foreign Direct Investment across states in Nigeria.

He successfully conducted Pension Audit & Reforms that eliminated a total number of 2,822 irregular names from the State Pension Payroll amounting to N180,000,000 (One Hundred and Eighty Million Naira) a month, or N2.16 Billion Annually with a Gratuity component of about N3.4 Billion removed from the Arrears debt. While a similar exercise conducted at the Local Government Pensions Payroll eliminated a total of 4,224 irregular names amounting to N172 Million a month or N2.064 Billion Annually with a Gratuity component of about N2.8 Billion removed from the arrears debt.

Abia State was rated as one (1) of the five (5) most improved states in Nigeria by the World Bank Ranking on Ease of Doing Business during his tenure as Finance Commissioner.

He introduced Strategic interventions in lowering interest rates charged by some Financial Institutions on major Government Accounts that saved the State over Five Billion Naira (5,000,000,000).

It is worthy to note that Chief Onyema Ugochukwu had left NDDC several years before Dr. Uko's brief stay at that organisation as Special Adviser.

In all, the allegations are completely false, unfounded and malicious. Dr. Uko worked with integrity and uprightness and left the scene unblemished.

The group finally warned that it will take up legal action against any media outlet, individuals or group that will continue the blackmail of Dr. Aham Uko even after the clear explanations above.