The Senate, yesterday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and set up a board for the commission despite the ongoing forensic audit.
The upper legislative chamber also indicted the IMC over alleged misappropriation of funds earmarked for the development of the oil-producing region and asked it to refund all “unjustifiable funds” paid to staff of the commission.
The Senate said the refund should cover the period between October 2019 and May 2020, when the IMC was constituted by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio with the approval of President Buhari.
Lawmakers who took their turns to speak at yesterday’s plenary described the NDDC as a cesspool of corruption and called for drastic actions to reverse the trend.
This comes exactly two weeks after the acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Kemebradikumo Pondei, admitted that the commission spent N1.5 billion for staff as ‘COVID-19 relief funds.’
He made this statement at the investigative hearing on the N40 billion corruption allegation against the commission.
A report read by the chairman of the Ad-hoc committee investigating the misappropriation of funds in the commission, Olubunmi Ayodeji, called for the reconsideration of executive oversight of the NDDC. The Senate also resolved that the control of the NDDC should be reverted to the Presidency in line with the laws establishing it.
It frowned at the supervisory role of the Niger Delta Ministry, arguing that it cannot play the role of board members even as it noted that spending without the framework of a budget was not helpful to the NDDC.
“In order to ensure results, oversight of forensic audit should be transferred to the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation,” the report said.
According to the report, NDDC spent N85.7 million on overseas travel to the United Kingdom; N105.5 million on scholarship grants; N164.2 million on trips to Italy by union members; N1.96 billion on Lassa Fever kit; N1.12 billion on public communication and N1.49 billion on COVID-19 relief.
Smart Adeyemi, in his remarks, called for the amputation of the arms or life imprisonment for convicts in financial fraud.
He said since the current system was not working, it was time to take a more drastic action to put a stop to the growing trend, where public officials pilfer with funds meant for infrastructure development.
Meanwhile, the Senate has mandated its committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate claims that some lawmakers benefited from contracts awarded by the Commission.
The committee is expected to submit its report within the next four weeks to enable the Red Chamber take a decision on any lawmakers found culpable in the allegation.
Akpabio had last Monday, when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee investigating alleged financial corruption in the NDDC, claimed that over 60 per cent of contracts in the agency were awarded to members of the National Assembly.
Though Akpabio, in a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday, denied he was referring to members of the 9th National Assembly, the Senate said it was going ahead with its investigation of the claim.
