The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, has requested a warrant of arrest on the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission to produce the former interim management of the agency, led by Professor Daniel Pondei.
The Committee at its sitting on Tuesday, resolved that the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, be contacted by the executive arm of government through the Senate leadership to produce Pondei and his team before it on April 9, 2021
Pondei and his team have ignored several summons by the Senate panel over the petition against them by the Chairman of the agency’s COVID-19 Palliative Distribution Committee, Ambassador Sobomabo Jackrich.
The panel had last month, asked the top staff members to appear before the Senate panel on February 22 to explain how they allegedly spent N6.25bn on Covid-19 palliative last year.
The panel sat on Tuesday and discovered that the Pondei-ed IMC still shunned the invitation extended to them.
Obviously unhappy about the development, the Chairman of the Panel, Senator Patrick Akinyelure (PDP Ondo Central), said the committee had no choice than to order a warrant of arrest on the current management of the agency to produce Pondei and his team.
He said, “This is the fifth time our committee will summon the former interim Management Committee of the NDDC to appear before us but they have always ignored our summons.
“We hereby resolve to request a warrant of arrest to be issued on the Sole Administrator of the NDDC, Effiong Akwa, to produce Pondei and his team.”
The Senate panel is acting on a petition which alleged that the management staff of the agency spent the money on palliative which they could not account for.
The petition before the Senate panel, claimed that the NDDC under the sacked Pondei led Interim Management Committee, spent N6.25bn on palliatives across the nine oil producing states.
Jackrich, who signed the petition, said no money was spent for such purpose by the sacked IMC.
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