Onanuga believes that moles within the civil service, who are loyal to the opposition are responsible for the unauthorized disclosure
By Kehinde Okeowo
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has asked the Federal Government to look into the civil service framework, with a view to unravelling how official memos get into the public space.
This, according to him, is to eliminate individuals he referred to as “moles” who are loyal to the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP.) and other political parties from the system.
Several media outlets had earlier reported that an internal memo indicating that President Tinubu allegedly approved the disbursement of N500 million from a total of N1 billion to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, was leaked.
The allocated funds were intended for the inauguration of a 37-member Tripartite Committee responsible for discussing the New National Minimum Wage.
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Reacting to the development, Onanuga, alleged that moles within the civil service, who have allegiance to the PDP and other political parties, are responsible for the unauthorized disclosure of the classified document.
The Special Adviser went on to emphasize the need for the Federal Government to take decisive action in identifying and removing these individuals who are leaking classified documents.
Onanuga said: ”This step is crucial in ensuring the security and maintenance of sensitive information.”
He added: “What is worrisome is, how come a memo written by SGF to the President bearing the President’s signature leaked out? It means that there are some fifth columnists within the government.
“It’s not the first time a memo will leak. There was a memo leak when the President went to UNGA, about a request for money to pay for his hotel bills and you wonder where it is leaking from.
“There are so many moles around who are probably doing the bidding of the opposition. They do not respect the civil service rule for handling official secrets. And it shows that the government should look inwards to probe how memos between officials are getting into the public space. Memos that are supposed to be secret are not supposed to be flying all over the place.”
