Abuja
– The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Stephen Oru, on Monday dismissed
speculations that he donated N2 billion to the presidential campaign of
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Oru,
in a live radio programme monitored in Abuja said those making the allegation
were mischievous as they were determined to tarnish his image and that of the
President.
A
group of Niger Delta youths who were sponsored to Israel for training in
agriculture, had accused the ministry of not redeeming all the promises made to
them.
They
beneficiaries also accused the minister of dismissing their appeals by saying
that he had no money as he used N2 billion to fund the president’s campaign.
However,
the minister said the Niger Delta Ministry, which was allocated N51.6 billion
in the 2014 appropriation, was yet to receive its third and fourth allocation
from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
He
explained that it was therefore not possible for the ministry to dole out a
non-existent N2 billion to the PDP presidential campaign.
The
minister, who assumed duty in July 2014, described the financial situation in
the ministry as precarious, citing huge debts and unpaid salaries.
According
to him, since he assumed duty in July 2014 as minister, he has received only
three months salary.
The
minister appealed to Niger Delta youths who participated in the federal
government sponsored training programme in Israel on agriculture to exercise
patience on the disbursement of their take-off grant.
According
to him, under the terms of the training programme, government is supposed to
provide seed money to the recipients to establish agriculture related business.
He
said the ministry was discussing with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) on how to
secure soft loans for the youths, who completed the one month training
programme in Israel.
The
minister assured the prospective entrepreneurs that the incoming government
would not terminate the training programme as it was a laudable initiative domiciled
in the ministry. (NAN)
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