The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has charged the National Assembly to check abuses of the budgeting procedures by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Akpabio handed the charge while speaking on the last day of the investigative public hearing by the Senate Ad- hoc Committee on alleged N40 billion financial recklessness of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC between January and March this year.
This is as the immediate past Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Yimebe Nunieh, declared that out of the N81 billion spent by the commission between October 29, 2019, and May 31, 2020, only N8 billion was spent by IMC under her leadership between October 29, 2019, and February 28, 2020.
According to the minister, the Niger Delta region would only get maximum benefit if the lawmakers re-jig the budgets for the NDDC.
The minister, who insisted that the forensic audit of the NDDC was the best way of clearing the rot in the commission, called on all the National Assembly and other stakeholders to support the effort of President Muhammadu to ensure that the resources was used for the people of the region.
According to him, instances abound where money budgeted was drastically and illegally reduced by some members of the National Assembly contrary to the originally approved fund.
However, the NDDC managing director, Prof. Keme Pondei, has threatened to resign if allegations of corruption levelled against his team of IMC were proven.
Dismissing the allegations he said, “If anyone has any evidence that I collected even one per cent from any contractor, let him present it and I will resign instantly. We need to be very careful in making spurious allegations that distract the NDDC.”
On his part, the chairman of the Committee, Olubunmi Adetunbi (APC, Ekiti North), declared that the essence of the investigation was to make sure the common wealth of Niger Delta “works for the people of the Niger Delta.”
He said the investigation was not about missing money, but about ensuring that money budgeted got into the right pocket to promote the best interest of the Niger Delta region and its people.
