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…will Nigerians see the cttee’s final report?
There is something more sinister going on that the behaviour of Daniel Pondei seeks to mask. Never in the history of the NDDC has corruption reached a peak as it has today.
According to revelations already in the media, N81bn was squandered alone between January-June, 2020, with an individual paid $1m from NDDC in what appears as forensic looting of the NDDC coffers; yet, the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC rather than be sober and repentant, had the effrontery to walk out of the Committee charged to look at the books of the Commission. This is unacceptable.
All these dramas are moves to change the current narrative of bad, corrupt, and inept governance and turn the attention of Nigerians away from the main issues of unpardonable deceit and deep-rooted corruption that bedevil this government.
This is a clarion call on the Leadership of NASS to take back its independence from the Executive and desist from making such statements as “I will approve whatever GMB asks for”; “better to be a rubber stamp and get what we want “. The institution of the National Assembly, made up of its members, is higher and bigger than the members themselves; the institution of the National Assembly remains the symbol of democracy; and its independence should not be negotiated under any circumstance whatsoever.
We cannot as Members of the PDP Caucus, watch from the side-lines as if nothing is happening when the tenets of democracy are being subverted and the Constitution desecrated. The snub of the National Assembly by the Executive and the unconscionable and obsequious behaviours of appointees of Executive arm have to stop forthwith.
And the man fainted at Reps investigative hearing same day.
The drama that unfolded at the Reps probe of the forensic and scientific looting of NDDC in a long time will remain indelible in the hearts of Nigerians.
How media consultancy contracts were awarded to an engineering firm and an advance fee of N.7bn paid to a company that does not know the definition of the word news.
A Medicare job was given to a transport company that does not know how to diagnose ailments all in the name of looting the commonwealth of a zone that has been relegated to the background despite the enormous resources being tapped from its communities on a daily basis.
N1.3bn spent on palliatives for staff of the commission to cushion the effects of Covid-19 in a region where citizens live below $1 per day.
The most annoying is the N122m spent on condolences. Who did they pay condolence message to or better still could it be that every burial ceremony in the nine states of the commission monies are doled out to individuals.
Reps Probe:
To let Nigerians know that the House of Reps will be transparent in handling the probe, Chairman of the committee Hon Olubunmi Ojo stepped aside before Professor Pondei started his submission on Monday but midway the man fainted.
Akpabio the uncommon Governor spoke from both sides of his mouth after taking his oath but tactically avoided signing the oath form he filled.
Pondei did not adequately address how N1.3bn was distributed to staff of the commission whether it was a bazaar or bonanza for staff.
The former MD Joi Nunieh had told Nigerians how she refused to sign a N10bn bonanza and church bazaar for Christmas last December in a zone where eating rice is seen as exclusive for the rich.
The House of Reps by now should have enough evidence to bury all those that plundered the commonwealth of Niger Deltans but wait a minute, will this report not go the way many reports and many NASS Resolutions were thrown into archival dustbins.
This is one report that must be made public and those indicted should be made to face the long arm of the law.