Dear President Buhari,

Nigerians have, once again, been jolted by fresh revelations by a foremost Civil Society Organisation, ACT FOR POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE, on Monday, September 7, 2020, to the effect that the reckless and unbudgeted spending spree by the discredited NDDC IMC has continued unabated, barely six weeks after the Senate’s indictment showing how the NDDC IMC blew N81.5 billion in just a couple of months on fictitious contracts, frivolities, and in breach of extant financial and public procurement laws.

At a well-attended Press Briefing in Abuja, Kolawole Johnson, Head, Directorate of Research, Strategy & Programme of ACT FOR POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE provided documentary evidence of how the NDDC IMC has further squandered N20 billion in July, N9 billion in August, plus on-going plans by the Commission to make more fraudulent secret payments this week (September 7 – 11) that will further set the commission aback

Nigerians are therefore amazed that nearly two months after incontrovertible revelations and confessions by the Interim Management Committee, at National Assembly probe hearings, regarding large scale fraud, extra-budgetary expenditure, abuse of procurement laws and mismanagement of the Niger Delta Development Commission, your government is yet to act.

The Senate in particular did a thorough investigation. It set up an independent ad hoc committee comprising senators outside the membership of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta.

The Committee carried out extensive investigation of the allegations of malfeasance against the IMC. It got the Commission's account statement with the Central Bank of Nigeria, received presentations from the CBN, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, the Bureau for Public Procurement and other relevant government agencies, as well as confessional statements, both oral and written from the IMC members, showing how the NDDC IMC blew N81.5 billion in just a couple of months on fictitious contracts, frivolities, and in breach of extant financial and public procurement laws.

FRESH REVELATIONS BY ACT FOR POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE, on Monday, September 7, 2020,

The fresh revelations as detailed below clearly shows that the Interim Management Committee which is supervised by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is running a criminal enterprise.

Despite the alarms ACT has continued to raise, the spending spree at the Commission has remained unabated.

It warned thus: “Today (September 7, 2020), again, we inform the Government and all relevant stakeholders, that, we have uncovered another plan by the commission to make some fraudulent secret payments this week that will further set the commission aback. This same alarm was raised in June, 2020 via a letter to the leadership of the National Assembly that was made public that, about 20 Billion Naira was carted away barely one month thereafter (as at July 28th), including payments on desilting against the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, largely due to poor response to the alarm raised. The details were given in our letter to the President on August 5th, which was released as a briefing for that month.”

The gory details of the NDDC IMC financial recklessness are detailed below.

The commission has gone ahead to squander additional 9 Billion Naira thereafter, in the last one month. This includes reckless spendthrift of 5.8 Billion Naira on fraudulent emergency desilting on the 29th of July, 2020, alone when the nation was on holidays. They were so in a hurry that they moved out same amount purportedly for different locations and different scopes of job. i.e Emergency clearing and desilting of Ipinle Ajenrela creek, Igbokoda (lot 3) –N634,761,500.00 (Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), Emergency clearing and desilting of Akaibiri creek, Yenagoa – 634,761,500.00 ( Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), Emergency clearing and desilting of Ilar Creek, Igbokoda (lot 2) – 634,761,500.00 ( Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), Emergency clearing and desilting of Temetan Creek, Igbokoda (Lot 1) – 634,761,500.00 ( Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira).

Others include: Emergency clearing and desilting of blocked canal from Ilaje High School Naval Base fishing Terminal, Igbokoda (Lot1) – 634,761,500.00 ( Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), Emergency clearing and desilting of Yewa Creek, Okitipupa (Lot1) – 634,761,500.00 (Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), Emergency clearing and desilting of Ipinle Koforawe Creek, Igbokoda (lot 2) –N634,761,500.00 (Six Hundred and Thirty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand Naira). The last on the roll on that same day: Urgent clear desilting of blocked sections of Ibelebiri waterways, Ogbia (lot 2) – 739,071,500.00 (Seven Hundred and Thirty-Nine Million, Seventy-One Thousand and Five Hundred Naira).

According to Johnson Kolawole of ACT, details of all the companies that served as conduit for these payments are readily available. The movement of same disbursements was also not out of traces.

Despite the outcry against the “1.5 Billion Naira Palliative to take care of themselves”, the commission abused the nation further by paying staff another 340 Million Naira (Three Hundred and Forty Million Naira) for “EMERGENCY INTERVENTION AGAINST THE SPREAD OF CORONA VIRUS AMONG COMMISSION’S WORKFORCE” on the 8th of August.

Every staff or appointee of the commission that received the money into their private accounts should be made to refund. They are: Okpozo Edgar (23.6 Million), Akopunwane Stanley (23.6 Million), Fobruku Monica (23.6 Million), Oputa Philomena (23.6 Million). Others are Akpabio Idara (20.96 Million), Margaret Ala (20.96 Million) Okezie Irene (20.96 Million). Also, Ironbar Linda (20.06 Million), Bello Mary (20.06 Million), Chidinma Lily (20.06 Million), Agala Asela (20.06 Million), Ojigbare Nancy (20.06 Million), Umezuruke Anthony (20.06 Million), Imoni Ahuna (20.06 Million), Anako Ajumoke (12.91 Million).

A senior director in the commission, who was recently led to the bank to refund his share of the scholarship fund surreptitiously looted, also received 25 Million into his private account from the above emergency covid-19 largesse.

Many other fraudulent payments were made in the month of August under review, including additional payment of 123 Million Naira to Julius Dinga Ltd, on the 18th of August, bringing the total payment on this singular contract scam to 624 Million Naira to the same company. The monumental fraud ongoing in the commission is being supervised by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.

A look at the nominal roll of the commission confirms the alarm on secret employment ongoing in the commission. The management recently employed over 50 contract staff without following civil service rules and guidelines. Some of these new intakes lacking required skills or experience were placed as assistant directors without competence test or needs assessment.

PRESIDENT BUHARI, WIELD THE BIG STICK NOW AND SAVE THE NATION FROM FURTHER EMBARASSMENT

Indeed, Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the action of Mr. President on the worrisome on-going contract scams, financial recklessness, corruption, abuse of office and mismanagement being perpetrated at the NDDC.

President Buhari cannot continue to act like humongous corruption has become the synonym for his Government.

When he was asked recently what he thought of the ongoing revelations of corruption at the EFCC and NDDC, the President said that some of his appointees have abused trust by misusing their offices for their self-aggrandisement.

Yet he is delaying action and emboldening the Niger Delta Minister, Chief Godswill Akpabio, and the IMC to continue the pillage of the NDDC, as has been revealed by ACT and clearly exposed during the National Assembly investigations as part of their oversight duty.

In the 121-page report, which was adopted as a resolution of the Senate on July 23, the Senate Committee found that the IMC, which is headed by Prof Daniel Keme Pondei as Acting Managing Director, made withdrawals in the name of contracts that could not be verified.

These fictitious contract payments ran into billions of naira. It therefore recommended that the IMC should refund the sum of N4.923 Billion to the Federation Account. Among the payments made, the Senate discovered that the Pondei-led IMC on April 15, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown paid out N1.96 billion purportedly for the procurement of Lassa Fever Personal Protection kits purportedly for the 185 LGAs of the NDDC states. Yet, the IMC, which said rather strangely that it used staff of the NDDC to distribute them, could not produce evidence of delivery of these kits to any of the 185 LGAs.

As the NDDC account statement showed, the IMC paid out N1.3bn for community relations, N122.9m on condolences, N83m on consultancy, N3.14bn on COVID-19, N486m Duty Travel Allowance, N790.9m as imprest, N1.956bn on Lassa Fever, N900m on Legal Service, N220m on maintenance, N85.6m on foreign travels, N1.121bn on public projects communication, N744m on security, N8.8bn on staffing-related payment and N248m on stakeholders’ engagement.

The Senate resolution recommended that the IMC be disbanded and made to refund the sum of N4.923 billion; that the substantive Governing Board of the NDDC be sworn in to manage the Commission in line with the NDDC Act; that the NDDC be moved back to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in the Presidency for proper supervision; that the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation supervise the forensic audit to "guarantee independence, credibility, transparency and professionalism in the output of the exercise," and that "the President with advice from the Auditor General should appoint a renowned, internationally-recognised forensic auditor to carry out the exercise."

President Muhammadu Buhari cannot afford to ignore the detailed Senate report and resolutions on the IMC, if he is really serious about his Anti-Corruption agenda.

The President's failure to act promptly and decisively since the exposures seemed to have emboldened the IMC to continue their criminal activities at the NDDC, by backdating contract offer letters and making illegal payments.

President Buhari should restore Accountability at the Commission by dissolving the IMC, implement the other resolutions of the Senate and direct the Anti-Corruption agencies to prosecute all persons indicted.