By Adedapo Adesanya
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said it will thoroughly investigate the sources of some documents which a recent widespread report by a national daily based its report on.
According to the agency, the report, titled Alleged N1.08 billion corruption scandal hits DMO, looks sponsored and out to tarnish its reputation.
The DMO in a statement released on Sunday said it would involve security agencies in line with laid down civil service regulations and with the intent to bring the perpetrators to book.
“Public Service Rules No. 030401 and 030402 which prescribes dismissal for unauthorized disclosure of official information as a serious act of misconduct.
“The DMO hereby states unequivocally that the story is false, full of lies and the documents referred to in the report have been twisted and distorted with the intention to misinform the general public and discredit the institution.
“The Vanguard story is not a true representation of the dealings in the DMO.
“It should be noted that the DMO is an accountable, transparent and responsible organisation that works in accordance with laid down civil service procedures and it is highly regarded by multilateral agencies and financial institutions as a reputable government agency.
“The sponsors of the story are disgruntled elements who have not only breached the civil service rules but have also contravened laid down procedures for dealing with official matters.
“These officials have resorted to illegally leaking official documents due to their recent redeployment [and] have colluded with other disgruntled persons who have failed in their attempts to control the running of the affairs of the DMO, which has blocked their ability to pilfer public funds,” the DMO said in the statement.
It added that the story referred to documents that, on their own, are incomplete and do not reflect the whole story or the purpose of any transaction.
“The claims that events and travels by officials of the DMO either did not take place or did not hold are false and an attempt to discredit the impeccable records of the organization. These speak to their desperation to give the institution a bad name.
“It is unfortunate that a reputable news medium such as Vanguard would lower its guard by allowing its platform to be used to promote falsehood by disgruntled and fraudulent elements in the DMO without cross-checking with the management of the organization,” the statement noted.
