By Yemi Monday
For alleged complicity in the violation of the provisions of Public Procurement Act 2007, the Federal Government has been called upon, to as a matter of necessity, suspend the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments, Mrs Evelyn Ngige.
The call was made by a Coalition of Anti-Corruption Networks in Nigeria which frowned at the “unpatriotic action of Mrs Evelyn Ngige, Permanent secretary Ministry of Trade and Investments, following an investigation carried out by the Nigeria Police Force in tandem with the petition submitted by Phantom Digital Technologies Services Limited through its lawyers, indicting the top Ministry officials of violating the mandatory provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.”
Coordinator of the Coalition, Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim, told journalists in Bauchi on Tuesday that “we are perplexed that despite the Anti-Corruption war superintend by President Muhammadu Buhari, it is notably pathetic that top government officials through their graft acts have kept on undermining the determination of the administration.”
He stated that, “the violation of Public Procurement Act 2007 by Mrs Evelyn Ngige has further revealed to us that officials of government will continue to work against the anti-graft agenda of the FG until the agencies enshrined with the responsibilities of fighting this menace stopped paying lip service to the war.”
Abdullahi Ibrahim added: “We therefore call for the immediate sacking and subsequent apprehending of Mrs Evelyn Ngige so as to allow the law take its full course. This is our demand and we shall stand vehemently by it.”