Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Godswil Akpabio has appeared before the house of representatives committee probing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The minister got to the hearing room at 11:20am.
Akpabio was summoned by the house committee on NDDC after Joy Nunieh, a former acting managing director of the commission, levelled some allegations against him.
Nunieh said during her time as the head of the agency she was asked to spend N10 billion on Christmas bonus.
She said rejecting the idea contributed to her removal from office.
She alleged Akpabio hijacked the forensic audit of the commission ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“He (Akpabio) said the first thing I would do is to write a letter to him and he gave me the draft, that I should put it on my letterhead. In that letter, I was supposed to write about most of the companies; [That] senator Nwaoboshi owned the 98 companies,” she said.
The minister is expected to speak on the allegations and other issues affecting the NDDC.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo on Monday stepped aside from presiding over the affairs of the investigative Committee.
Tunji-Ojo said he was stepping aside from presiding over Monday’s hearing to allow fair hearing and to protect his integrity and prove to Nigerians that he was not on any revenge mission.
On the first day of the hearing, the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC walked out on the Committee saying he was not confident of getting justice if Tunji-Ojo presides over the hearing.