The Nigerian senate has asked the interim management committee of the
\nNiger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to refund N4.9 billion,
\nraising serious questions about the forensic audits.<\/p>\n
In May, the upper legislative chamber set up\u00a0 a probe panel chaired by
\nOlubunmi Adetunmbi, senator representing Ekiti north, following
\nallegations that the commission mismanaged N40 billion.<\/p>\n
At the hearing, Kemebradikumo Pondei, acting managing director of the
\ncommission, said no money was missing and that since he assumed office
\nin February, the interim committee has been paying contractors owed for
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Pondei also defended the N3.14 billion his management committee
\ndisbursed to its 4,000 workers and police commands in nine states as
\nCOVID-19 relief.<\/p>\n
While presenting his report on the floor of the senate on Thursday,
\nAdetunmbi said although his panel did not gather enough information on
\nthe ongoing forensic audit at the commission, there are indications that
\nit is \u201csubstandard and compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a forensic audit of the
\ncommission from 2001 to 2019.<\/p>\n
Contributing to the debate on the report, Yahaya Oloriegbe, senator
\nrepresenting Kwara central, said: \u201cIt is sad that this is happening and
\nnothing urgent is being done to stop it. It is obvious corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
The upper legislative chamber approved a recommendation that the
\ncommission should report directly to the presidency and not the
\nministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsence of board created a lacuna of oversight the Ministry of Niger
\nDelta Affairs could not fill and that affected the operations of the
\ncommission. There is a need to set up a board,\u201d the recommendations
\nread.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a need for improvement on the governance process of the
\ncommission. Oversight of the forensic audit should be transferred to the
\noffice of the office of the auditor general of the federation to ensure
\ntransparency. FG should appoint a renowned auditor to supervise this
\nforensic audit.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor all unjustifiable payments made to staff, they should be made to
\nrefund the monies especially the N4.9 billion for COVID-19 relief and
\nothers. There is a need to review corporate social responsibility of the
\nNDDC.\u201d<\/p>\n
The senate also directed its committee on ethics to probe claims made by
\nGodswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, that members of the
\nnational assembly got contracts awarded by NDDC.<\/p>\n
After the recommendations were approved, Senate President Ahmad Lawan
\nasked the executive to consider the reports of the probes by the senate
\nand house of representatives on the NDDC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigerian senate has asked the interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to refund N4.9 billion, raising serious questions about the forensic audits. In May, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n