By Our Correspondent
A web of alleged financial misconduct is tightening around the Chairman of the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hon. Samuel Mariere, amid explosive claims that he has been using publicity contracts as a personal cash cow — with the agency’s official Public Relations Officer (PRO) deliberately cut out of the loop.
Multiple insider accounts paint a picture of a well-oiled scheme in which publicity is allegedly weaponized as a conduit for siphoning millions from the Board’s coffers. The method, according to sources, is simple but effective: bypass the duly posted PRO, channel publicity jobs to a handpicked outsider, inflate the costs, and then route part of the payout back to the Chairman.
One staff member described the arrangement as “daylight looting under the guise of public relations,” alleging that the outsider acts as a middleman who shares the inflated proceeds with the Chairman. The PRO is allegedly forced to sign off on these padded expenses — or face intimidation and marginalization.
Investigations reveal that this pattern of sidelining began long before the current PRO arrived. The former PRO, described by colleagues as a “dedicated young lady,” reportedly endured months of frustration for refusing to rubber-stamp suspicious transactions. She eventually left the Board after being completely stripped of her core functions.
The drama deepened when the new PRO also refused to play along. According to an anonymous staffer, this triggered a furious reaction from Hon. Mariere, who allegedly threatened to use the Commissioner for Information to “deal with” the officer.
What baffles many insiders is the fact that both the Chairman and the sidelined PRO hail from the same Ughelli North Local Government Area. “Instead of protecting his own, he is tearing him down for refusing to join in the racket,” a senior staff lamented.
Critics warn that outsourcing official publicity to non-staff is not just a breach of protocol — it is a gateway for unchecked financial manipulation. “Publicity budgets are now an open vault for a few individuals, while the PRO’s office is reduced to a mere rubber stamp,” another source alleged.
As pressure mounts, civil society groups and education stakeholders are calling on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration to launch an immediate forensic audit of SUBEB’s publicity spending. “If these allegations are true, it’s not just theft — it’s sabotage of the entire system meant to uplift basic education in Delta State,” one activist told our correspondent.
At press time, Hon. Samuel Mariere had yet to respond to repeated requests for comment.
