Minister Battling Graft Allegations, Akpabio Seeks Broader Probe Of NDDC
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday, described the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as a cesspit of corruption, saying the commission received about N15 trillion in 19 years without anything to show for it.
The minister who stated this when members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) visited him in Abuja, also frowned at what he described as the limited scope of the National Assembly’s inquest into the financial activities of the commission.
According to him, the probe should not be restricted to between February and July 2020 that is currently the mandate of the National Assembly, but should be a comprehensive probe of the agency’s 19 years of existence.
Akpabio, who noted that the discretionary probe would not address the problem of the commission, which he described as “a cesspit of corruption”, assured Niger Delta residents and the country that the outcome of the ongoing forensic audit would expose the magnitude of the rot in the agency.
He said: “Why can’t people ask questions? How come it is only now that the noise is louder? How come it is only now that even our parliament has found it necessary to conduct a selective probe of NDDC? Instead of beginning from the inception, year 2001, they are now doing five months probe out of almost 20 years of existence. Why?
“NDDC has been in existence since 1999; what is really happening now? How is it all petitions on earth are happening? When the wind blows, it blows along with the answer.”
According to Akpabio, he had earlier pointed out in a television interview in 2019 that the forensic audit of the NDDC would spark controversy and a campaign of calumny against him and President Muhammadu Buhari.
He added: “Shortly after Mr President ordered the forensic audit of NDDC, I was on NTA and I pointed out that as soon as this forensic audit commences, that hell would be let loose.”
He further claimed that the campaign against him and the NDDC Interim Management Committee was “so organised and well-funded that you hardly open a newspaper and you don’t see a screaming headline, and all they are talking now is corruption in five months; not corruption in 19 years and seven months.”
Source: TheNigerian News
