Like the drama that played out
when the current acting managing director (MD) of the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) slumped at a house of representatives hearing, events at the
commission 12 years ago also looked like a scripted Nollywood movie.
But it was indeed a true story.
In 2008, Sam Edem, then NDDC
chairman, allegedly spent N1 billion on black magic popularly known as “juju” —
to help him secure government contracts.
Edem was alleged to have diverted
the money from government coffers to hire a sorcerer for rituals to aid his
success in the contracts.
He was said to be pursuing the
contracts from the Akwa Ibom state government at the time.
In addition to the N1 billion,
the former NDDC boss also allegedly burnt N270 million in a ritual after which
he rubbed the ash on his body.
The ritual, said to have taken
place at a midnight ceremony in a Port Harcourt cemetery, was to “help secure
his position (at NDDC) and attract more patronage from the authorities”.
According to the police,
Perebakowe Ogah, the sorcerer who was reportedly contracted by Edem, said he
was given money to cast a spell that would kill Timi Alaibe, Edem’s rival at
the NDDC.
The police had said Ogah also
confessed to performing the ritual at the Port Harcourt cemetery.
Although Edem denied the
allegations, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, president at the time, suspended him from
office and ordered a full scale investigation into the allegations.
The police later arraigned him in
court and said they believed that “this is money from the Nigerian government,
money that should have been used to develop the Niger Delta.”
Twelve years down the line,
allegations bordering on corruption and mismanagement of public funds are still
rocking the NDDC.
Both chambers of the national
assembly are currently probing the alleged mismanagement of N81 billion by the
interim management committee (IMC) of the commission led by Kemebradikumo
Pondei, NDDC acting managing director.
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