By Francis Ogwo
Several months after the public dramas pertaining to the scandal-plagued Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Buhari administration appears to have its first tentative and tepid step towards addressing the issue of corruption in the top echelon of the regional intervention and development agency, in the wake of public outcry.
This was with the immediate sack on Saturday of Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei as the acting Managing Director.
Subsequently, Mr Effiong Okon Akwa, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was appointed as Interim Administrator to oversee the affairs of the Commission.
This development was made public by the President’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
According to Adesina, Akwa, who is the acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the Commission, would take up the position until the forensic audit of the NDDC is completed.1
Adesina said: ”The development became necessary as a result of plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja,” he said.
Recall that in May 2020, the Senate and the House of Representatives made a move to investigate members of the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC over allegations of mismanaging N40 billion within 3 months. The 2 chambers subsequently set up ad-hoc probe panels to look into the financial transactions of the IMC.
The probe was constituted by the National Assembly during which the minister of Niger Delta Affairs revealed that some lawmakers were accomplices in the corruption scandal.
Meanwhile, in the emergency reshuffle, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio was untouched
Akpabio had in the wake of the corruption allegations named some federal lawmakers who allegedly got contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The named lawmakers included the Chairman of the Senate committee on Niger Delta, Peter Nwabaoshi, whose name was linked to 53 projects.
Some of the projects include emergency repairs of Asue Street, Owa Phase 2; ldumuogbe Road via Ojemaye; Otolokpo College Road, Otolokpo; and the Police lshu Ani Ukwu Road, Issele Uku, in Delta State.
The Minister also said Senator Matthew Urhoghide got six projects, Senator James Manager got six contracts while a former senator, Samuel Anyanwu, got 19 projects.The former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the NDDC, Nicholas Mutu, was also named by the minister as receiving 74 contracts – the highest among the listed lawmakers.
Some of the projects are emergency roads in Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states.
A few others were simply identified as Ondo and Edo Reps.
