Mr. Oronsaye’s spokesperson reacts, says he’s a saint
Mr. Oronsaye declined to comment for this story. For over a week, he could not be reached on his telephone. On Monday morning, his phone rang but the former head of service did not answer or return the call. He also did not reply a text message sent to him.
However, Walter Duru, his spokesperson, on Sunday told PREMIUM TIMES the allegations against his principal were false and fabricated.
“If there is any saint in this country, it’s Mr. Oronsaye,” Mr. Duru said. “He is the one who initiated civil service reforms in this country. He also made recommendation to the EFCC to probe activities of the federal civil service.
“You can take it from me that Mr. Oronsaye can never be involved in anything fraudulent. Those allegations were all fabricated. There is no truth in them. “I can assure you that Mr. Oronsaye has done no wrong. If anything he deserves commendation and respect from everyone in this country for his selfless service to the nation.”
Mr. Duru promised to reach out to Mr. Oronsaye to enable him to provide a more robust response to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry on Monday. But rather than do this, Mr. Duru tried to preempt our story by procuring an Abuja-based NGO, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, to circulate a press statement suggesting that this newspaper was being used by some interest groups to witch-hunt Mr. Oronsaye.[eap_ad_3]
It is unclear why an organization that claims to defend human rights and promote accountability would scramble to defend the alleged massive loot of public funds by the former head of service. [eap_ad_3]