Moses Oba
For the Interim Management Committee(IMC) of the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC), it is one day, one trouble, with the latest drama being the inability of the management to account for a whopping N183 billion expenditure in the commission’s budget for 2019.
Appearing before the National Assembly Joint Committee on NDDC, the Managing Director of the Interim Management Committee, kema Pondei confirmed that NDDC received N305 billion for 2019.
He was however able to account for only N122 billion, leaving a shortfall of N183 billion.
Even more perplexing was that the N122 billion NDDC said it spent did not reflect anywhere in the budget document the Managing Director presented to the Joint Committee; fueling lawmakers’ suspicion of massive fraud in the NDDC.
The lawmakers watched in total disbelief as the MD Kema Pondei refused to sign off on the same budget document he presented to them after he had assured Committee members he would sign on all the pages to authenticate the document.
The antics of the MD angered some of the lawmakers; mostly from the House of Representatives who believed the Chairman, Peter Nwaoboshi was too lenient with NDDC.
The latest trouble for NDDC comes even as the commission is currently emeshed in a messy probe of alleged N40 billion Financial recklessness by Senate Adhoc Committee chaired by Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi.
That probe and a planned finance audit of NDDC Account by the Federal Government have in the last few days opened a can of worms with the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio caught in the crossfire of allegation and counter-allegation of corruption.