Scandal: ‘I didn’t approve the release of any tractor- Umana insist 

From Ene Asuquo, Calabar 

The scandal rocking Cross River Basin Development Authority over missing tractor took another dimension as the Principal Commercial Officer with  Mr. Inyang Umana has denied authorizing  the release of missing MF -275 tractor for physical inspection by external auditors  to be returned the following day.

Umana denied  the allegations  while answering questions from  journalists in his office   Monday in Calabar.

The Nations News Nigeria reports that Umana had been accused of signing the authorization  letter  that allowed the tractor to be taken out of Basin Authority premises 

” To say that I was part of those involved in the release of the tractor is lies.Is not the first time this staff had been involved in issues like this.

” I was only a whistle blower. I  was the one who even raised the alarm. To drop me into the matter is ridiculous.

“The missing tractor might still be in Urban moving wood at Oban, in Akamkpa local government area of Cross River State.

“From what we gathered, the two young men stormed  the premises  of Basin Authority in company of  one of our staff with a forged document pretended as if the document was signed by me.” Umana stated.

He stated that the missing tractor might have been taken to the northern part of the country where it might have been hired to execute a job and he assumed the bandits may have seized the machine