The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has dismissed reports that N700 billion was lost in the fire outbreak at the office of the Accountant General of Nigeria.
The fake report was published on blogs and shared on social media. The report which had the headline, “We Lost N700 billion naira COVID-19 relief funds due to fire outbreak – Finance Minister” was concocted to drive propaganda against the government.
Responding to the fake news, the Minister of Finance wrote on its official Twitter account, “The general public should take note. Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed did not grant a press conference or any interviews.
“No funds were lost in the fire at the Accountant Generals Office which was contained to two rooms. Donations are under N30 billion to date.
“This is pure mischief and should be disregarded,” the Ministry tweeted along with a headline that had fake news across it.
According to the Minister of state for Budget and Planning, Clem Agba, the fire that gutted the office of the Accountant General of the Federation did not destroy any record.
The fire broke out on Wednesday at the Treasury House, a building housing the AGF’s office.
“We have gone round the rooms and offices where the fire affected, and I am glad to report that our data Centre where all our records are kept are fully intact,” he said.
“There is no destruction, so we haven’t lost any record. As a government I want to assure you that our records are intact, a few documents are burnt, we haven’t started recovery to check what actually burnt, but all our financial transactions are intact.
The general public should take note. @zshamsuna did not grant a press conference or any interviews. No funds were lost in the fire at the Accountant Generals Office which was contained to two rooms. Donations are under N30b to date. This is pure mischief & should be disregarded pic.twitter.com/vknWNWHOHS
— Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (@FinMinNigeria) April 9, 2020
