Defamation: Lawyers to ex-NECO registrar write SaharaReporters
By Doosuur Iwambe
Issues 7-day ultimatum for a retraction, public apology
The former Acting Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Mr Abubakar Gana, has written to the publishers and owners of ‘SaharaReporters’ demanding for a retraction and public apology over the series of publications which accused him of fraud.
In a letter addressed to the editor-in-chief of the online platform and dated October 5, 2020, Gana through his lawyers Victor Giwa & Associates, issued a 7-day ultimatum for the retraction of the three defamatory publications against him or face legal actions.
Recall that the online portal had in a series of reports, alleged that Gana his Special Assistant, one Ibrahim Peter Alih, as well as Chairman of the Governing Board of council, Dr Abubakar Sadeeq awareded contract worth billions of naira without following due process.
Echono was precisely accused of providing tacit support for the officials of NECO to perpetrate corruption using his position as a very senior officer in the Ministry charged with the responsibility of supervising NECO.
However, Gana through his lawyers said that the publications are libelous, defamatory and capable of lowering his reputation in the eyes of the public and in the minds of right thinking persons in the society.
They debunked the allegations as lame and manifestly ignorant as the procurement process of NECO or other parastatals does not involve the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education.
The lawyers also noted that all the contracts under Gana’s time were dully awarded and satisfactorily executed, noting that the allegations were “false, malicious, spurious and intended to injure our client’s reputation which he has built for over three decades.”
“It is important to note that our Client is a seasoned public servant and a professional examiner, who has given over thirty-four (34) years to productive public service at various levels of government, and has through dint of hard work, commitment and good service, risen to the level of a director before he was appointed as NECO acting Registrar.
“Our client has a track record of excellent service and commitment to duty in his public life and he has received various awards and accolades to his credits.
It is therefore our position that the said publications against our client are out rightly false, malicious, spurious and intended to injure our client’s reputation, which he has built for over three decades, the law firm said.
‘’Gana was at the vanguard of major reforms while acting as Registrar of NECO, a move that instilled prudence and financial responsibility in the agency.
Between 2009 and 2017, only N900million was returned to the Federal Government coffers.
READ ALSO: NECO ex-acting registrar dismisses fraud allegations
‘’But when he took over, in two years he returned over N2billion generated as proceeds from the conduct of examinations, to the federation account, with an outstanding states indebtedness to the council for 2018 and 2019 towering at N1,045,047,140.00 billion.
‘’He abolished the use of scratch cards in NECO to ensure that monies generated go directly to the treasury single account and worked hard to ensure reduction of examination registration fee from N11,350 to 9,850, the letter read.
