Group Alleges Plot By Former FCDA Boss To Discredit Bala Mohammed
A Civil rights group under the aegis, Nigerians United for Transparent Transformation, has revealed secret campaign of calumny against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sen. Bala Mohammed bordering on land acquisition to discredit and cast aspersion on his image and administration.
In a statement made available to journalists, signed by the Executive Secretary of the group, Mr. Omonya Michael in Abuja, it alleged that Engr. Mohammed Alhassan's motives is bent on soiling Sen. Bala ' s image as part of his vendetta against the minister.
According to him, the former FCDA secretary who is an All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, holds a vendetta against the minister who dismissed him in 2013 after an indictment by a panel set by the minister to investigate allegations of financial misappropriation and over pricing of contracts as well as award of contracts to personal phony companies leveled against Engr. Alhassan.
Speaking further the activist added that the former FCT employee was further influenced by political motives. He said that Engr. Alhassan was also sponsoring smear campaigns against Bala Mohammed and President Goodluck Jonathan in a bid to discredit the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), since his wife, Hajiya Jummai Alhassan is also a gubernatorial flag-bearer of the APC in Taraba State.
"Based on information available to NUTTS, Alhassan who is now using stolen wealth to get back at Bala while sponsoring his wife to clinch the Taraba governorship under the APC ticket, is still one of the richest persons in and outside the FCT and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should promptly intervene to stop a desperate man like Alhassan, who has sworn to destroy institutions of state as long as Bala Mohammed remains FCT minister". It read in part.
He also added that the grouse extended to the reason that the dismissed Secretary had confiscated land illegally acquired for his wife, where she built a shopping mall, which was also demolished by the Bala administration in its strive to ensure compliance to master plan and due process.
“Many staffs of the Commission strongly believe that Bala Mohammed is the messiah that has come to rescue them from Alhassan and his co-travelers. However, it remains a mystery to be unraveled by NUTT on how an ordinary citizen was able to assume the position of a demi-god without anybody curbing his excesses until it has degenerated to this ugly level.”
Mr. Omonya who described his group as a whistle-blower, claimed they felt it necessary to expose their findings in order to clear public misconceptions and also set the record straight by exposing the real issues behind the widely publicised falsehood against the president and the minister's administration which has performed creditably well.
He also maintained that Engr. Alhassan had made himself stupendously rich while serving as Executive Secretary of the FCDA through illegal means and should be cooling his heels in Kirikiri maximum prison save for the intervention of the Minister who saw no reason to put a fellow Arewa brether behind bars but unfortunately his kind deed has been repaid with ungratefulness as seen in these smear campaigns.
The group wonders how an ordinary citizen was able to assume the position of a demigod, without anyone caring to curb his excesses till it got to such level. They claim his ouster has further deepened the Authority's staff belief in the leadership of Bala Mohammed. “Claim of land grabbing labeled against the president and the Minister was baseless as the constitution had provided rights for the acquisition of land for agricultural use by public and civil servants and thus the duo had done no wrong,” the statement added.