THE Interim Management Committee (IMC), of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), has said that if it releases the list of those involved in looting the commission, the country will break.
The IMC has also accused members of the National Assembly of plotting to stall the forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Recall that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday last week approved the forensic auditing of about 12 thousand NDDC contracts.
But Dr. Ojougboh alleged that the recent pressure by the National Assembly to probe the activities of the IMC was instigated by the fear of the forensic audit.
He said that the mission of the IMC to the NDDC and the Niger Delta region is to ensure that every naira that had been put into the region through the commission is accounted for and vowed that the committee would dare every odd to ensure that the mission is accomplished; not minding whose ox is gored.
The NDDC Executive Director on Projects took a swipe at the National Assembly for condemning the N51 million monthly imprest for the office of the Acting Managing Director of the Commission and the N18 million imprest for his office, saying that such monies are not personal money but for the upkeep of the place especially in security.
He alleged that a highly placed member of the National Assembly from the South-South whom he accused working against the IMC has a cumulative imprest of about N100 million monthly without the kind of security challenges the NDDC management faces on daily basis.
According to him, “My MD feeds 100 policemen every day and in Port Harcourt as an executive of NDDC, you need security more than anything, till tomorrow, you know of it. When they are sending these policemen, the instruction is fed them, cater for them, that is what is in the letter the police hierarchy sent.
“So people are talking about 51 million of imprest for the MD, it is a security vote, it’s not for his personal pocket, the money does not go to the MD’s account. Myself, N18 million, it does not go to my account, it goes for security and other expenses and it is retired, there is no fraud in it.”
He said when President Buhari nominated them, and they arrived at NDDC office Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the first thing they noticed was that the two Chairmen (NDDC Committee) in the National Assembly, were the “De Facto management, managers and the executive of NDDC.”
He said as a former member of the National Assembly and a former liaison officer to the President, he has been in the Chambers and in all his life he has been in government since 1999 till date. “So I know what time of the day it is in politics and in governance. So we told them it cannot be business as usual, then they said we must leave.”
Asked what was responsible for the sudden interest of the National Assembly in the activities of the IMC, he said,” God bless you. It’s the forensic audit that the President has instituted because the National Assembly is culpable. At the end of the forensic audit, you will see members of the National Assembly…
“A Senator came and said that in the list of 2016 they brought, that he had only six contracts, I said no, that he had more. What he didn’t know is that we did not release the list for 2017 and the one for 2019. If we release it this country will break.”
Also asked why the country should break, he said, ” Oh because of the people looting, the calibre, the names and people looting the NDDC. And who engineers it? The Chairmen of the NDDC in the senate and House of Representatives in the National Assembly.
“So, when I explained, I told Mr. President to look, my job here is very simple. Mr. President looks, even if it is the only thing I achieve in my life to make sure that things are put right for the people of the Niger Delta to have the benefit of the NDDC. You can call me any name, you can do anything, you can say anything, I don’t care but I must do the right thing and the right thing is that no one penny will be missing.”
