The Department for State Service has refuted media publications alleging that it’s Director General Alhaji Yusuf Bichi or anyone acting on his directive has looted staff subsidy grant.
According to a statement by Dr Peter Afunanya, Director Public Relations and Strategic Communications, no such grant has been made available to the Service as alleged by one Jackson Ude on his twitter handle @jacksonpbn,.and that once that is allocated, staff will, as usual, receive what is due them.
” Mr Bichi has, in all ramifications, evidently catered for the welfare of active and retired personnel. This is common knowledge and can be verified by Ude.
“Similarly, the so called “goodbye allowance” which Ude accused the DG of granting himself is non-existent. It is only an imagination of the writer and his sponsors. But assuming the DG is paid any severance package at the end of his tenure, how is that unethical and outside established public service rule?
“While Ude is at his mischief once again and has continued to smear the image of Mr Bichi as well as present him as corrupt, facts at the DSS show otherwise. Recalled from retirement in 2018 and appointed the DGSS, Bichi is seen as spartan, accountable, transparent and indeed, incorruptible. He has remained resolute in running the Service and shown uncommon commitment in the management of its affairs. His top priorities are staff welfare and judicious application of human and material resources. Any misleading narratives to the contrary are therefore unacceptable, Afunanya said.
“The Service is aware of the desperation and antics of Ude and his other hirelings to associate it with unnecessary controversies either during the 2023 Presidential election or the subsequent litigations following it. The recent campaign of calumny is one of such. But as always, the DGSS is unperturbed.
The DSS Spokesman said the Service under Alhaji Bichi will continue to chart a professional course aimed at internal security of the country.
Afunanya who urged the public to disregard the falsehood being peddled by this known fake news merchant whose only stock in trade is to misinform as well as use his platforms to create division and violence, confirmed that the DGSS will take appropriate legal steps to seek redress.
