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Former Acting Managing Director of Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh has made some damning allegations against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio. watch
The former Acting MD addressed the press after she appeared before the Senate ad hoc Committee investigating NDDC.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had in February 2020 reorganized the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), replacing Barrister Joy Nunieh with Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, as Acting Managing Director.
Buhari also approved the enlargement of the IMC from three to five.
“He said the first thing I should do when I get to Port Harcourt is to change the dollars in the NDDC account. I was scared to do that and he claimed that I have a poverty mentality that I’m afraid of money. All of you knew that he accused me of refusing to spend money. It is strange today, it’s about money.
“After that, he came to Port Harcourt two days after the inauguration and told me that the first thing I should do was to change the dollars.”
“He told me to take an oath. Though he denied that, he told me, three times until we had a reconciliation at the Villa in the office of Mr. Abba who is the S.A. to the President on domestics.
“I refused to go with him to the FEC meeting to deceive Mr. President and the reason is because the law says if I contravene a section of the procurement Act, it’s five years imprisonment without an option of fine,” she said.
“So if I had gone with him to deceive Mr. President, I would have been in trouble because they said it’s the 2020 budget, but Akpabio went and got approval when the budget was not ready.
“Apparently, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh never sits in the office, so he never knew the workings and the bureaucracy of payments in the office.
“There are different steps to take before payments are made in NDDC. One, there is the issue of Lassa fever which obviously they didn’t carry along.
“Nobody makes payments in NDDC without Godswill Akpabio’s consent.
He said I should remove Mr. Katulgo from the legal unit and send him on compulsory retirement. I refused to do it. He said we cannot have a northerner as head of the legal unit.
“I said, I cannot do that. I do not have the powers because I am just an IMC. It’s a criminal offense, and against public service rules for me to do that. He said I should repost all other directors that refused to take his instruction during my predecessor’s time, that is, the person who was there before I came.
“He said Senator Nwaoboshi is giving us trouble and besides he didn’t recognize the IMC. I said I will not do that letter. He said I was ungrateful and I refused to do that letter.
“Dr. Cairo said he would do the letter. He said if Akpabio asked him to kill, he would kill first before asking why he killed. And I said, for me, I will not do that.
“At that place, there was one Mr. Etiebet who was the only NDDC staff that was present at that meeting. He now asked Dr. Cairo to go and send for letterheads from the office.
“Dr. Cairo did the letter alleging that Senator Nwaoboshi had contracts with NDDC and I said if I signed, any document from me seen by Mr. President, he will believe. So I will only write that the EDP knows about it.
“The next thing he told me is that I should make sure these people leave the procurement. Before I came when he and Festus Keyamo became Ministers, in their first meeting, they awarded 30 contracts of water hyacinths.”
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