Alleged N5bn fraud: Groups throw weight behind Akpabio, NDDC

Some groups in the Niger Delta region have called on Nigerians, particularly Niger Deltans to disregard what it described as baseless propaganda peddled against the interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) under the supervision of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio’.

It would be recalled that a group branded as Ijaw Intellectual Advocates had accused the NDDC’s management of defrauding the commission under the guise of purchasing COVID-19 personal protective equipment and sanitizers worth N5.47 billion.

The group through its President, Comrade Austin Ojobo, had also alleged that the company executing the contract received the money from the NDDC through the minister to procure the equipment describing the contract as fraudulent.

But, in a joint statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, certain groups across the Niger Delta region dismissed the allegation as merely orchestrated to disrupt the ongoing forensic audit embarked upon by the interventionist agency.

The statement was jointly signed by its conveners, Peter Essien (president, Niger Delta Watchdog for Good Governance) and Basil Bob-Manuel (co-ordinator, United Peoples Front).

The statement noted that: “It is interesting to observe that immediately the NDDC acting Managing Director, Prof. Kemebradekimo Pondei made the announcement of an invitation to the EFCC to join in the audit process, we saw petitions alleging fraud, quoting bogus sums as well as calling for the removal of the minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

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“This is a clear agenda by those who fear the outcome of the forensic audit, more so with the invitation of the EFCC,” the statement read.

The group queried that with the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it only stands to reason for a responsive interventionist agency to commit resources in the fight to prevent the spread of the virus.

“As an interventionist agency, it is the primary mandate of the NDDC to complement the federal government in areas requiring swift interventions as presented by the present COVID-19 pandemic which has held the entire world to a standstill.

“Present records show that the virus is spreading to the Niger Delta region at an alarming rate. To therefore, argue that the NDDC does not have such powers to intervene in the present crisis is rather unpatriotic and at best, a heartless ploy to sacrifice the lives of the Niger Delta people on the altar of politics,” it continued.

They further stated that “assuming but not conceding that such a contract was indeed awarded by the interim management, failure of the company to deliver the personal protective equipment to communities of the Niger Delta region would amount to a breach of contract at best and not the concocted fraud allegation being peddled against the interim management.

“We therefore, urge all stakeholders of the Niger Delta region to cast politics aside and join the interim management committee as well as the minister for Niger Delta Affairs to combat this severe virus as it respects neither party affiliation nor ethnicity,” they added.