The Minister of Regional Affairs, Uba Maigeri, has denied allegations that he diverted \u20a616.5 billion allocated for the reconstruction of the collapsed Namnai Bridge in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State.<\/p>\n
Abia Radio News<\/strong> understands that one Abdulmumuni Imam had made the claim on social media.<\/p>\n He also alleged that the minister was plotting to have him arrested for criticising the government\u2019s handling of the project.<\/p>\n Imam stated that the Maigeri had secretly secured a directive authorising the Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to detain him.<\/p>\n However, reacting while addressing newsmen in Jalingo on Friday, the minister\u2019s legal counsel, Ibrahim Effiong, dismissed the allegations as unfounded and malicious.<\/p>\n He expressed concern over individuals \u201cspreading rumours they cannot justify,\u201d stressing that Maigeri, whom he described as \u201ca reputable member of the bar,\u201d had done nothing wrong.<\/p>\n Effiong acknowledged that Nigerians are entitled to freedom of expression but warned that such rights should not be misused.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople should not use social media to run others down. If you make serious allegations, you must also be ready to justify them when called upon,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n The counsel confirmed that the minister has taken the matter to court in pursuit of justice, commending Maigeri and his supporters for opting for legal redress. He urged Nigerians to exercise their freedom of expression responsibly and in accordance with constitutional provisions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe matter is already before the court,\u201d<\/em> Effiong noted, calling on Imam to appear and substantiate his claims. He added that Maigeri, like every citizen, has the right to seek legal remedy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hands of the law cannot be too short. We must know that where your right starts, it also ends somewhere,\u201d<\/em> Effiong said.<\/p>\n Effiong further called for greater respect for public officials, stating that the minister\u2019s approach to the controversy demonstrated commendable restraint and a commitment to due process.<\/p>\n \u201cIf all Nigerians will be like the minister, I believe Nigeria will be a great country,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a9 2025 Abia Radio News, a division of Tee Global Innovataions. Contact us via [email\u00a0protected]<\/strong><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Minister of Regional Affairs, Uba Maigeri, has denied allegations that he diverted \u20a616.5 billion allocated for the reconstruction of the collapsed Namnai Bridge in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State. Abia Radio News understands that one Abdulmumuni Imam had made the claim on social media. He also alleged that the minister was plotting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":237966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[2423],"class_list":["post-237965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-uba-maigeri"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Uba-Maigari-Ahmadu-1000x600.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}