The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy, Hadiza Bala Usman, has responded to some allegations levelled against her by the former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.

The former Rivers State Governor went on to make fresh claims against the former NPA boss, accusing her of awarding a contract worth N2.8 billion.

Reacting to Amaechi claims on Saturday, Usman urged the former governor to grow up and stop telling lies.

She, however, stated that Amaechi claims did not come as a surprise to her.

Usman alleged that the former Minister is notorious for the fluidity with which he tells lies, manipulates facts, and talks out of turn.

She argued that Amaechi once claimed he has no interest in money even when his public conduct says the opposite.

Her statement read in part, “Amaechi should please grow up and stop all these lies

“Recent newspaper reports of false claims attributed to the eternally petty ex-Minister of Transportation, His Excellency Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, about me did not come to me as a surprise.

“In his over two decades in public office, Nigerians must be used to the fluidity with which he tells lies, manipulates facts, and talks out of turn.

“Here is someone who once brazenly told Nigerians that he doesn’t like money, even when his public conduct contradicts this assertion. That must be the most fantastic lie that any public official, living or dead, has ever told Nigerians and so, nothing he says should astonish us.

“Aside from exaggerations, manipulation of the truth, and outright lies which he threw at his audience on Thursday, the former Minister said nothing that I did not already reveal in my memoirs: Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority.

“The book has been on sale since April 2023, but has he even read it to understand that I didn’t hide anything from Nigerians about the events surrounding my “stepping aside,” and eventual exit as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority?

“Mr Amaechi in his rant alleged that I awarded a contract worth N2.8b. This is false. I don’t know where the former Minister got his N2.8b figure from since this accusation was nowhere in the list of infractions conveyed to me in a query arising from the reports of the Administrative Panel of Inquiry he set up.

“The only issue relating to a contract award in the query was about the emergency purchase of operational vehicles following the vandalization of the premises of the Marina, Lagos headquarters of the NPA on October 21, 2020.”