The House of Representatives, on
Wednesday, uncovered the numerous spendings by the Interim Management Committee
(IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from February to May
2020.
The cumulative sum of N81.5bn was
said to have left the account of the NDDC without due process and for no
implementation of any known project since the IMC resumed work.
Chairman of the House Committee
on NDDC, Rep. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo disclosed this during the opening ceremony of
the ongoing investigative hearing into alleged financial recklessness at the
Commission.
The House of Representatives had
on the 5th May 2020 deliberated on a motion on the need to investigate the
alleged financial malfeasance and other activities in the NDDC.
Speaking at the opening ceremony,
Rep. Tunji-Ojo said the investigative hearing was not targeted at witch-hunting
anyone, but rather as part of patriotic services of the lawmakers to get to the
root of some illness bedevilling the NDDC which was established 20 years ago.
“The visionary eyes of
forerunners in our hallowed chambers caught the dire need to develop the Niger
Delta region to mitigate the impact of national economic activities in the
area. In the year 2000, the National Assembly established the Act that birthed
The Niger Delta Development Commission with a clear mandate to develop the land
and the people.
“20 years after, we must ask ourselves some
critical questions as the baton of preservation falls on us, today”, Tunji-Ojo
added.
The Lawmaker gave the breakdown
of the spendings at the NDDC to include, N1.3bn for Community relations;
N122.9m for Condolences; N83m for online media Consultancy; N31.4bn for
COVlD-19 palliative and N486m as DTA, in the period of 4 months.
Also within the same period, Rep.
Tunji-Ojo claimed the NDDC spent the sum of N790.9m as imprest; N1.956bn to
fight the spread of Lassa fever; N900m for Legal services; N220m for
maintenance and another N85.6m for oversea travel.
The IMC also spent the sum of
N1.121bn for Project public communication; N744m on Security; N8.8bn for staff
payment-related expenditure and N248m for what they described as stakeholders
engagement from February to May 2020.
Although the NDDC officially
communicated the inability of the management team to appear before the House
Committee on Wednesday, a Director of Funds from the Office of the
Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Sabo Mohammed, could not controvert
the findings of the Lawmakers, even as he admitted his office was a signatory
to the NDDC account with Nigeria’s Apex bank.
Director-General of the Bureau of
Public Procurement (BPP), Engr. Babatunde Kuye, on his part, confirmed to the
panel that the NDDC’s spendings were not in conformity with the procurement
guidelines, neither was a certificate of ‘No Objection’ issued to the
management to embark on such spendings.
The Speaker of House of
Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, while declaring the investigative
hearing open, tasked the committee members to live above board and make Nigeria
and the Niger Delta proud by staying on the path of objectivity and truth.
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