Mkpoikana Udoma 02 September 2015, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt – The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Sir Bassey Dan Abia, has incurred the anger of a Niger Delta youth group with his comment that no money was missing in the commission under his watch.
President of the group, Mr. Amateri Bidekpele, called on the National Assembly to invite Dan Abia and his management team to explain alleged contract awards to relatives and cronies.
He said the aggrieved Niger Delta youths want to bring to the notice of the public that the era where public servants handle public office as their personal estate is over.
According to him, “We want them (NDDC) to appear before a public account committee in the National Assembly; it is not enough for him (Abia) to say that ‘no money is missing’, it is not enough for him to say ‘the statement is misleading’, it is not enough for him to say he is not part and parcel of contract splitting.
“For a Managing Director of NDDC to say he is not part and parcel of this and that while those things are going on in NDDC, so what is the criteria of him being an MD? That means he is not qualify to be an MD, therefore he needs to be probed.”
Bidekpele also stated that in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption stance, the Federal Government should probe the NDDC boss’ comments when he appeared before President Buhari.
He added: “His (Dan Abia) statement is misleading, his statement is contradicting in the sense that when he said he was not the MD as at 2008 to 2012, then why did he counter the reports of the audit of 2008 to 2012?”
“Secondly, he also dissociated himself from contract splitting which is a major problem in NDDC, and he said he is not part of it. Thirdly, the auditor report that he is faulting, what is the basis of faulting that report when he said that he was not part and parcel of the NDDC as at 2008 to 2012”.
It would be recalled that the Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Dan Abia, had described as false the allegation raised by the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, that over N183.7 billion was misappropriated by the Commission.
Ukura recently said that money had been diverted by the commission, following an audit report of special check on NDDC from 2008 to 2012.