The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says that the sponsored
media attacks on the activities of the Interim Management Committee,
IMC, are meant to derail the forensic audit ordered by President
Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking in an interview at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, the
Commission’s Director Corporate Affairs, Mr. Charles Obi Odili, stated
that the allegations against the IMC were deliberate falsehood
orchestrated to undermine the on-going forensic audit exercise.
He declared: “When this IMC came in with the mandate to drive the
forensic audit, it was well aware that it will have enemies. There are
some people who have unjustly benefitted from the system who will be
brought to book. They are the people fighting back. People like this
don’t have any other arsenal other than to resort to the media because
the media gives them space to vent their venom.
“When you say you want to carry out a forensic audit, it is a delicate
matter. It requires a lot of courage and forthrightness. It puts you at
a certain pedestal where you are most likely going to be judged by
people you want to investigate.”
Odili said that those waging a media war against the NDDC were hoping to
weaken the resolve of the forensic auditors and compromise their report
in the eyes of the public. “That is what they are aiming at. But that
objective has failed because the forensic auditors will do their work
and do it well to the satisfaction of Mr. President and Nigerians,” he
said.
The NDDC director remarked that most of the allegations against the
Commission were completely untrue, citing the claim that the IMC spent
N200 billion in two months as one of those falsehood fed to the public.
According to Odili, “nothing could be further from the truth. In actual
fact, in three months, the IMC has received N33 billion, out of which
they have spent N22 billion. This covers payments to vendors and
suppliers like hotels, and contractors, especially those owed N50
million and below.
“We saw fake documents flying around, claiming that the NDDC has given
some contracts not recorded in our books. The only contract the NDDC has
given is the one to Osmoserve Ltd., that has a Presidential approval and
the company fulfilled all the financial requirements and met all
regulations. It is not out of place at a time like this to intervene in
the fight against COVID-19 and help assuage the sufferings of our
people.”
Reacting to reports that the NDDC was not attending to the beneficiaries
of its foreign post graduate scholarship programme, Odili said that the
scholars had been paid their takeoff grant and would have been fully
settled but for the COVID-19 pandemic which made movement of funds
abroad impossible.
He observed: “Paying their outstanding entitlements involves foreign
exchange transactions. If it were transactions in the local currency,
NDDC would have settled the matter by now. However, we have reached out
to the students and they are well aware of the situation.”
Addressing the issue of scammers duping members of the public in the
guise of assisting them with agricultural loans, Odili advised those who
have genuine businesses with the NDDC to always cross-check their
information at the Corporate Affairs Department or visit the
Commission’s official website and other social media handles.
He said: “We got reports from Rivers and Bayelsa states stating that
some persons are asking unsuspecting members of the public to pay a
certain amount of money so that that they can have access to a loan
facility in the Agriculture and Fisheries Directorate of the NDDC.
They took advantage of the promise made by the NDDC Acting Managing
Director, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, to promote agriculture in the
Niger Delta region. The fraudsters used that as a bait and this forced
us to issue a press release to inform members of the public on the
correct state of the programme.
Odili also spoke on the recent decision of the IMC to send some key
staff on mandatory leave. He explained that the leave, with full
benefits, was on the advice of the Lead Consultants on the Forensic
Audit, noting the insinuations that the directors affected by the order
were the best trained people in the NDDC was not correct.
He added: “All NDDC directors have had the same opportunities for
training. Some may have had some specialized trainings tailored to their
professions. It is therefore, not true that those that have been asked
to proceed on leave are irreplaceable.”
The Director called for some understand of the peculiar nature of the
IMC assignment, stating that it came at a very difficult time in the
life of the NDDC. He said that the expanded IMC had only been in office
for about two months and it was not enough time for a fair assessment of
their performance.
Odili said: “They have been trying to steady the course. They need some
time to make their mark and those fighting them don’t want to give them
the time to perform.” Given enough time, he assured, the IMC will
succeed.