NITDA: Communication minister explains DG sack

The information was contained in a letter written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara in Abuja on Wednesday

In an information circulated by the Minister of Communication, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, the Federal Government of Nigeria has explained that the sacking of the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Mr. Peter Jack was owing to financial recklessness, abuse of office and reckless employment.

This was contained in a letter written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara in Abuja on Wednesday.

In the letter, Shittu alleged that Jack awarded contracts without complying with the provisions of the Procurement Act, 2007 as well as diverted public funds into private accounts.

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The minister stated, “Several approvals and payments totalling N301,656,560 were allegedly made through the NITDA staff account into private accounts under the guise of cash advance disbursements.

“These payments to staff private accounts were in excess of the N200,000 approved amount of any cash advance by the Federal Government. The huge amounts paid to staff for execution of services, which could have been awarded as contracts, were in contrast to due process rules and financial regulations.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has also recently dismissed the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, Yahaya Gusau over the widespread irregularities detected in the 2016 budget presently under consideration by the National Assembly, and have replaced him with Tijjani Abdullahi.