Breaking: HoS, Oyo-Ita, Resigns; Buhari, Yet To Accept

By Gideon Njoku

Head of Service Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, a reliable source told this magazine, has handed her letter of resignation to President Muhammadu Buhari.

She is said to have taken this decision because of the deep respect she has for the President, and the office of the Head of Service, HoS which she occupies.

Said the source,”She vehemently denies the allegations made against her. But she decided to resign because of her unadulterated respect for the President,  and the office she occupies.”

But there is a snag. The President has yet to accept her resignation.

“Yes, there is a letter from her, but the President has not accepted it yet.”

Trouble started for her when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC, grilled her for days, over fraud allegations amounting to Three Billion Naira, based on a petition against her written in 2014, when she was Permanent Secretary,  Ministry of Special Duties. A number of people have wondered how she could  defraud the Ministry of that amount, which equals its annual budget.

A sum of N600 million is also alleged to have been traced to an account belonging to her aide. But, Oyo-Ita denies knowledge of it.

On Sunday, she met with the President to explain herself. The President,  an Aso Rock source told this magazine, was not very happy over the treatment given to her.

After her grilling by the EFFC, she was admitted to a hospital on health grounds.

Presidential Spokesperson, Garba Shehu, when asked about the resignation, said he had no information on that, which a source insists, was deliberately leaked to the media by an Aso Rock source, even when the President was yet to accept the letter.

Oyo-Ita was not at the Presidential retreat for Ministers-designate on Monday, but she sent a Permanent Secretary to represent her.

Oyo-Ita, 55, a widow, still has five years to spend in the Civil Service before her retirement. She had worked with the President when he was the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund under the late General Sani Abacha regime, and had had a televised spat with the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, at the Council Chambers over the  controversial reinstatement of Maina in the Federal Civil Service after a pension scam.