The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has dismissed allegations of N700 billion fraud leveled against his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel, describing the claim as false and unfounded.
Eno, who added that the claim was spurious, stated that his predecessor served the state meritoriously and deserves gratitude. He also stated that the allegations are unknown to his government.
The governor debunked the claim during a Town Hall meeting in Uyo township Stadium on Saturday, where he reeled out his plans for continued development of the state.
He disclosed that Udom had visited the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday evening to honour an invitation and despite being allowed to leave the same day and returning to his home in Lagos, a section of the media “had wrongly reported” that he was being held by the anti-graft agency in relation to an alleged N700 billion naira fraud under his watch.
Eno said: “Because at the end of the day, the people don’t show you that gratitude. When a man has served his state meritoriously like Deacon Udom Emmanuel did, honestly, he should be honoured, he should be respected.
“And so I don’t see a place for this kind of information that is going on. It’s not correct, I don’t believe it should go on. I don’t believe so. So, I don’t know where they get the figures from. I don’t know where they churn it out from, but I can tell you as a sitting Governor, that it is not correct.”
The governor, meanwhile, cautioned the media against trial, stating that the act must be jettisoned forthwith, to avoid engaging in contempt and libel.
He emphasized that the allegations are not correct and that the people should dismiss the issue with a pinch of salt.
“It is not true. The media trial must and should stop forthwith. And we need to dimiss this issue with a pinch of salt”, the Governor added.
