*It’s a lie — GM

BY ANAYO OKOLI

Umuahia – ABIA State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, is embroiled in large-scale fraud involving millions of naira which were allegedly not remitted into  government coffers. The alleged fraud was payment for sanitary lane.

The revenue was said to have been collected by an agent alleged to have been mandated by the agency but no kobo from the source was said to have been paid into the purse of the government for over three years when the collection began.

The agent was alleged to have paid un-receipted money to the authorities of the agency before he was given the go-ahead to collect the revenue.

General Manager of the agency, Dr. Cosmos Ndukwe, however, dismissed the allegation as baseless.

Ndukwe claimed that the allegation was being peddled by people from one of the clans in Umuahia capital territory “who want to smear the image of ASEPA”.

He said: “The letter of (authority to collect revenue) they are parading is a fake letter. We have reported to the police, we don’t have such letter. What they are parading is a fake letter and we are arresting the people.

“How can we collect revenue for sanitary lane that has been blocked? Over the history of ASEPA, we have not collected it. It is a mere gang-up allegation by some people who are not happy with what we are doing in the agency.

“Why is it only in Umuahia, go to Aba you can’t get it, it is only in Umuahia. Why?”