Barely hours after the House of Representatives announced moves to sue the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for failing to name lawmakers who got the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) contracts, the minister has denied accusing the lawmakers of benefitting from 60 per cent of the NDDC contracts.
The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who read Akpabio’s letter on the floor of the House during Plenary on Thursday, said the minister claimed he referred to contracts awarded by the NDDC in the past, some of which were part of the constituency projects of the lawmakers, which had not been paid for.
Gbajabiamila said that the minister’s response would be referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges for further action.
Meanwhile, the Senate ad hoc committee set up to probe alleged financial recklessness by the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has recommended its dissolution.
The panel also recommended the return of the NDDC to the Presidency for direct supervision.
It also recommended immediate inauguration of the monitoring and advisory bodies according to the Act which established the Commission.
The panel posited that the Ministry of Niger Delta supervised by Akpabio lacked the capacity to implement the forensic audit and therefore directed that the Auditor General of the Federation should supervise the forensic audit to ensure transparency.
It also recommended that the Auditor General should appoint internationally renowned audit experts to carry out the exercise.