THE Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has named the lawmakers who benefitted from the controversial Niger Delta Development Commission contracts, setting the stage for a fresh face-off on the multi-billion naira scandal rocking the Commission.
The Point learnt that there might have been a misrepresentation of the letter earlier written by Akpabio to the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The letter was presented to reflect that he denied his earlier statement that lawmakers were major beneficiaries of the contracts.
Akpabio had explained that he did not say that lawmakers got 60 per cent of the contracts, noting that he only mentioned 60 per cent in response to a quesiton on whether it was in order for a medical doctor to be an Executive Director, Projects of NDDC.
However, fresh facts that emerged over the weekend revealed that the minister had actually named beneficiaries of the contracts in a document attached to his response.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had, last Tuesday, given Akpabio 48 hours to publish names of lawmakers who he said got the larger share of NDDC contracts, including the details of the said contracts.
At the expiration of the ultimatum, the lawmakers had threatened to drag Akpabio to court for Perjury and related offences.
In a document supporting his response to the lawmakers’ threat to sue him, however, Akpabio named four senators, who he said got 74 contracts from the Commission from 2017 to date.
The minister also insisted that the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, inserted 19 contracts, worth N9 billion, into the 2019 NDDC budget.
The document said the Chairman of the Senate Committee on NDDC, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, allegedly executed 53 NDDC projects from 2017 to date.
Akpabio also included the names of three other senators – Matthew Urhoghide, James Manager and Sam Anyanwu – alleging that they executed a total of 21 NDDC contracts in the review period.
But Nwaoboshi, who referred to Akpabio as a confused man, has challenged him to publish the names of the directors and shareholders of the companies that executed the 53 contracts he mentioned.
The minister also included Senator Mathew Urhoghide on the list of beneficiaries, with six projects against his name. Others are: James Manager, and Sam Anyanwu, among others.
Gbajabiamila had reportedly said, last Tuesday, that Akpabio claimed that he had, at the hearing, referred to old contracts awarded by the NDDC, which had not been paid for, as well as some contracts that were part of the lawmakers’ constituency projects.
The minister reportedly said that the NDDC had not executed any contract under the 2020 budget since it had not been passed, adding that the 2019 budget was passed in April and had not been implemented.
He said, “As to the reference to 60 per cent of contracts, the investigative committee refused to give me opportunity to explain that; I was responding to a question by a member of the committee.
“Permit me to explain that any reference to 60 per cent during the investigative hearing was in answer to a question by a member of the committee as to whether or not, a medical doctor could act as Executive Director, Project, which I answered in affirmative; that the greatest project in the world today is COVID-19, which is medical in nature.
“Further more, I am made to understand that 60 per cent of NDDC’s yearly budget are medical in nature, therefore it is better for a medical doctor to serve as the Executive Director, Projects.”
Meanwhile, Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to put a closure to the investigation by ensuring a thorough probe that will unravel shady deals and bring offenders to book in the interest of Nigeria’s image.
