How Akpabio awarded contracts to unregistered companies — Nunieh

The former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh has alleged that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio gave instructions to the NDDC to award contracts to unregistered companies.

She also accused the Minister of allegedly engaging in a lot of infractions in the NDDC which grounded its activities.

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She disclosed this on Friday when she made submissions to the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta via Zoom.

According to her, some contracts were also awarded before their designs were submitted which she said led to the abandoned projects littering the Niger Delta region.

Nuneih also informed the committee that, Nigerians were also being deceived by the likes of Akpabio about the supposed ongoing forensic audit of the NDDC ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The issue is that everyone in Nigeria has been deceived that the forensic audit is going on. I want to say here that if Nigerians find out that the forensic audit is going on, every testimony and allegations that I have made should be cancelled and disregarded, there’s no forensic audit going on.

“There’s no auditing firm in Nigeria that’s of big repute. The nine companies on that list, none of our major auditing companies in Nigeria is on that list. Secondly, can I say that the forensic auditors have been procured? my answer is no.

“The President had written a letter to the National Assembly appointing the forensic and suspending the appointment of the board, in that letter the President said that he was appointing the Interim Management Committee (IMC) to supervise the forensic audit, that was the reason he was bringing in the IMC.

“What I met wasn’t exactly what was going on, the Minister, Akpabio insisted that he will supervise the forensic audit, I reminded him and showed him a letter that the President had written, there’s no way that we can spend the money that’s in our budget,” she said.

Akpabio denies all allegations

Meanwhile, the minister, Godswill Akpabio has denied all the allegations levelled against him by Nunieh just as he confirmed that he had instructed his lawyers to sue the ex MD of NDDC for defamation of character.

In a statement by his special assistant on media, Anietie Ekong, Akpabio described all the allegations by Nunieh as “cornucopia of false, malicious and libellous,”.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta has summoned Godswill Akpabio and the Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei to appear before it unfailingly.

The duo were given until Monday, July 20 to appear over the alleged expenditure of N81.5billion in five months and other allegations against the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Commission.

Chairman of the committee, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (APC, Ondo) and the committee resolved to summon the Minister and the NDDC IMC to explain and speak on the various alleged sharp practices in the commission.

The Committee is holding an investigative hearing on the activities of the NDDC over the years.

It recently discovered an alleged N81.5 billion frivolous spending by the commission in five months after it scrutinised and received submissions from the CBN, Accountant General and Auditor General’s office as well as Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).