There are allegations that the Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is behind the hard work of Mr Osita Okechukwu, Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON).
It is alleged that the minister was planning the move, similar to Ibrahim Modibo Kawu, the former Director General of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), before finally leaving.
Several high-ranking officials loyal to the Minister were allegedly motivated to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC and the Independent Corruption Practices Commission (ICPC), leading to Okechukwu’s invitation to the anticorruption agency’s headquarters last Saturday. Sources said the official speed and encouragement of the syndication of the report on Okechukwu’s invitation by the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), despite the fact that correspondents from similar agencies for VON were not available at efcc headquarters.
Observers at the Ministry of Information and the institutions under it, argue that the chain of disputes between the Information Minister and most of the parastatal heads under him, who claim Modibo Kawu, is exaggerating his head in okechukwu’s case, especially given the circumstances within the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
Newsglobal also gathered Okechukwu angered the ACN APC camp when he supported the removal of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, noting that DG VON complicated his case with his recent call on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu not to run for President, but to remain Kingmaker and unite Southeast and Southwest by supporting people younger than the Southeast to succeed President Buhari.
A witness within the governor ‘s forum claimed that when the Minister heard that Okechukwu’s name appeared, he swore that Okechukwu should leave in a fair or fraudulent manner.
This allegedly prompted some senior VON staff and some EFCC operators to petition, although the ICPC has previously investigated the claims.
However, an aide to the Minister who requested anonymity told our reporters that Lai Mohammed was not involved in the matter between The Von Directorate General and the EFCC.
SKJ