Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman of the senate committee on Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC), says he did not get any contract from the
commission.
Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, had named
him as one of the beneficiaries of contracts awarded by the commission.
While appearing before a probe panel of the house of
representatives, Akpabio had said the federal lawmakers were the biggest
beneficiaries of NDDC contracts.
Subsequently, Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of
representatives, gave the minister 48 hours to unveil the identities of the
lawmakers who got contracts.
In a statement on Monday, Nwaoboshi asked the minister and
the interim management committee (IMC) to focus their energy on explaining to
Nigerians how they “spent a whopping N81.5 billion within a period of five
months”.
“Mr Akpabio alleged that I was awarded contracts for 53 NDDC
projects. I wish to state unequivocally that this allegation has no bearing
with the truth and challenge Mr Akpabio to send so-called list to anti graft
and other security agencies if he can substantiate the apparently baseless
allegation,” he senator said.
“Indeed I would have made further comments but for the fact
that the matter is currently before two competent courts of law.
“However, suffice it to say that this unsubstantiated
allegation is in line with Mr Akpabio’s well known agenda to continuously
blackmail me so as to keep diverting public attention away from the serious
mismanagement of the NDDC by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) under his
supervision and under the guise of a phantom forensic audit that has no
operating time line.”
Speaking with TheCable later, Nwaoboshi said the forensic
audit of the commission’s finances ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari since
October has not commenced.
“The forensic audit is not going on, that is the truth as we
talk today, I’m the chairman of the committee, they have not even appointed…
they said they appointed a lead consultant,” he said.
“That is the evidence we have in our report, that means they
are going to appoint other consultants, other forensic auditors, that they have
not done so as I am talking to you now… What is the function of the lead
consultant? It is somebody who is going to assemble a team, according to what
they told us, they are going to have people state by state.”
The senator said the commission should be put under the
presidency for effective management.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com