The Federal Government has raised fresh alarm over an orchestrated plot by fraudsters to discredit the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC)-led by Itse Sagay.
According to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, PACAC’s letter head and stamp as well as the signature of its chairman were being forged and used to defraud people within and outside the country.
Mohammed, who made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, said Sagay and all the members of his committee were men and women of proven integrity who would never allow the committee to be used for any activity that is not within its mandate.
He further said that the plot was also aimed at not only discrediting PACAC but also sabotaging the federal government’s anti-corruption efforts, using “419ers” and their ilk.”
The statement said: “In a particular instance, a letter purportedly signed by the PACAC Chairman, Prof. Itse Sagay, entitled: ‘Presidential Investigation on Outstanding Federal Government External Contract Debts,’ and a form to be filled for that purpose, are being sent to unsuspecting persons to extort money from them and to portray the country’s highest advisory committee against corruption in bad light.
”For the avoidance of doubt, the President has not mandated PACAC to investigate and recommend for payment some outstanding contract debts, as contained in the letter in question, neither has the Federal Government approved the disbursement of $850 million in the 2017 budget for payment of the so-called external contract debt.
”We are therefore using this medium to inform Nigerians and foreigners alike to disregard such letters.”
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