Budget padding: You lied, Stella Oduah replies Sahara Reporters

Former Aviation Minister and Senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District, Stella Oduah has described as lies and malicious a report by Sahara Reporters accusing her of budget padding for personal gains in the 2022 budget.

It would be recalled that in a news report by the online news platform published on 8^th of February, the Senator was accused by an NGO of siphoning public funds in the 2022 budget by adding some projects of her own.

According to Sahara Reporters, in a letter dated January 20, 2022, and jointly signed by the NGO’s Executive Chairman, Abubakar Galadanchi; Project Director, Barrister Ossai Festus; and Protem Secretary, Oluwole Idris, Sen. Oduah, who is the deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, was accused of facilitating the inclusion of some projects for her benefits.

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However, the media aide to the Senator, Nonso Chukwudebe, in a statement described the report as a malicious smear campaign to damage the Senator’s reputation as the 2023 elections approach as the accusations lack every iota of fact and are placed on a premise of falsehood.

“This report is not just untrue, but it’s also malicious, poorly concocted, unrealistic and unbelievable. It’s also a reflection of a lack of understanding of Nigeria’s current financial situation and the workings of the budget.

“In its revelation of the projects said to be listed in the budget by Sen. Oduah, the organisation described them as ‘fictitious’, and this calls for questioning as the 2022 budget has hardly kick started. The budget is yet to be implemented, and by our investigation, it’s not been awarded.

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He said Senator Oduah, as far back as 1996, built a free skill acquisition called JOSAC for her local government.

“She also built a secondary school and has always staunchly believed in the importance of skill acquisition as a means of survival in the world. Her manifesto has always been centred on human capital development.

“As a Senator, she has facilitated the training of more than 20,000 people. The failure of graduates to see good jobs due to lack of skills has been a concern, and training them has never been more important. Where the world stands requires the acquisition of modern skills to prepare them for the many opportunities the new normal has in stock.

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Chukwudebe also said the NGO and Sahara Reporters didn’t do a thorough check on the budget workings and came short of providing empirical evidence to back their story.

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“The National Assembly isn’t a body of Lilliputians who accepts everything thrown at it in the form of budgets. These budgets are holistically reviewed. In the 2020 and 2021 budget, which the nameless organisation quoted, it’s unfortunate that there’s no proof for its humongous accusation, and that explains its lack of a name. The organisation’s existence is amorphous, and its claims are not different.

“Sahara Reporters, which was the vehicle in the peddling of this fake report, should also do better in investigating the claims it publishes. Journalism isn’t for smear campaigns, but a means to uphold the truth all the time. Publishing the work of a nameless “NGO”, a name many hatchet jobbers now take up to destroy the hard-earned personalities of public persons, is in itself a ludicrous venture.

He said such smear campaigns are, however, not unexpected, as they have happened in the past, especially when a major election is near.

“Stella Oduah has an impeccable character and will not join words with any amorphous group or a news organisation out to tarnish her reputation, ” the statement concluded.