Transparency and Accountability Advancement Group, a civil society organisation, has called on the federal government to dissolve the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
According to the group, the management screened by the National Assembly should be inaugurated to work.
A statement issued by the national president of the group, Comrade Godknows Sotonye, commended the National Assembly for the probe of the NDDC IMC.
“We reiterate our position that the IMC be dissolved because it has no place in the NDDC Act and is a proxy for Godswill Akpabio’s fraudulent schemes,” the statement said, calling for the inauguration of a substantive Board for the NDDC.
The group alleged that since Akpabio was appointed Minister of Niger Delta and got the IMC into place, he has wasted no opportunity in authorising payments for fraudulent contracts, including payments for jobs not yet done; such that the bank balance of about N50 billion in the commission’s account at the beginning of this year has been depleted in just a few months.
“These questionable payments have been made for all kinds of payments, from the clearing of water hyacinth, river de-silting, head office building, medical equipment and supplies, to huge administrative bills for both the minister and his IMC.
“The minister and the IMC have chosen to exploit the current Covid-19 pandemic to make dubious withdrawals for medical equipment and facilities, which have not been delivered on. Particularly worrisome is the approval and payment of billions of naira for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers and publicity for an unspecified Covid-19 campaign in the Niger Delta states,” it said.
The statement alleged that “three companies; Tales and Buildings Limited; AHR Limited and Julius Dunga Limited, received contracts and upfront payments of about N2 billion each, for the same purported COVID-19 contract Armada.”
“The above is in addition to N1.045 billion spent in early March for what the Commission called support to the nine states of the zone and as part payment for the establishment of COVID-19 isolation centres in each of the 27 senatorial zones in the region. Yet there are no NDDC-funded isolation centres in all of the 27 senatorial districts across the region.
“It is without a doubt that the excuses by Akpabio for not having a Governing Board in line with the NDDC Act are more sinister than have been canvassed by him and this should be reversed also for a fully transparent management of the NDDC and its assets,” the group added.