₦airaland Forum

The Anti-Corruption Campaign Network (ACCN) has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) demanding for urgent forensic investigation into the tenure of Mr. Obinna Oriaku, the ex- Commissioner of Finance, Abia State over allegations of fraud and misappropriation of state fund.



Mr. Patrick Odey, the ACCN Coordinator disclosed this in a petition letter dated May 19,2020 and made available to Newsmen

According to the petition letter, “We are Anti-Corruption Campaign Network, a coalition of civil society organization with the primary aims of exposing corrupt practices in Nigeria and advocating for probity.

“In the course of our activities, we came in contact with certain allegations of gross financial misconduct and abuse of office for pecuniary gains by one Mr. Obinna Oriaku, the immediate past Abia State Commissioner for Finance, and we have deemed it crucial to bring same to your notice for investigation and review.

“Mr. Obinna Oriaku’s time as Finance Commissioner was blighted by severe accusations of abuse of office and the misappropriation of public funds for personal gains through fictitious and self-serving companies which we have encapsulated in this petition for your urgent attention.
“It is strongly alleged that Mr. Oriaku while serving as the Abia State Finance Commissioner contracted government jobs to Lloydant Business Services- a consultancy firm, which charged in dubious excess of the service it rendered to the Abia State government in the unified electronic payment portal, thereby causing avoidable financial strain on the Abia state government.



“Lloydant Business Services, leveraging on its contact within the Abia State government at the time, cornered the Data Biometrics programme for civil servants in the state at the cost of N150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) even when a private financial organization within the state had offered to render same service at no cost to the government.

Perhaps more frustrating to Abians at the time is the fact that the wage bill service which the biometric capture sought to set right continued to pose serious concerns and challenges, thus implying that Lloydant Business Service was incompetent for the job it secured through cronyism.



“There are rife indications that Mr. Oriaku indirectly benefits from these transactions with Lloydant Business Services, and in some quarters, it is alleged to be a shadow shareholder in the company, thus underscoring the underhand manner with which he signed off on the company to undertake sensitive government contracts without following due process,” the statement added.

SOURCE: https://igbowatch.com/2020/06/13/group-drags-ex-abia-finance-commissioner-to-efcc/

The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN) Abia state, Ap Dr Agomoh O E ,has approved that,all churches in the state should observe a one day fasting and prayer session on Sunday, June 14,2020.



This is with respect to the incidence of Corona virus(COVID-19) in the state.

In a Statement on Thursday signed by Engr Dr Mgbeahuru O E. the Secretary of CAN in Abia State , the Christian Body Urge Churches to Pray for the speedy Recovery of the Abia State Chief Executive.

1. Pray for the Governor and others ,who are currently receiving treatment ,for speedy recovery.

2. Pray for God’s protection on Abians and residents in this pandemic period.

3.Other prayer points as may be deemed necessary.

READ MORE https://igbowatch.com/2020/06/11/can-declares-fasting-and-prayers-for-abia-governor-ikpeazus-quick-recovery/

God bless Senator Theodore Orji OCHENDO

A Very Welcome Development, this is a sign that the Former Governor Senator T A Orji does not play Politics of Bitterness at all. Visiting Orji Uzor Kalu in his home shows that T A Orji is indeed a Brother. Kudos to the two Former Governors

ur attention has been drawn to a statement by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) awarded a contract of N500 million to the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, which he did not execute.



The Commission wishes to state that it has searched through its records and there is no evidence of any contract awarded to Senator Akpabio or any company associated with him by the NDDC.

From our findings, the person who has questions to answer to the Niger Delta People is Senator Nwaoboshi.

Our records show that Senator Nwaoboshi used 11 front companies (owned or traceable to him) to secure a contract of N3.6 billion in September 2016, in what is perhaps the biggest single case of looting of the Commission’s resources.

The said companies/business names are:



i. Noan Integrated Services;

ii. De Towers Constructions & Allied Services Ltd;

iii. Franstine Nigeria Enterprises;

iv. Edrihide Company;

v. Isumabe U.K. Global;

vi. Benchmark Construction & Allied Services Ltd

vii. Millstone Allied Builders Ltd.;

viii. Nelpat Nigeria Company;

ix. Agh-Rown Ventures;

x. Edendoma Stars International; and

xi. Antlers Construction and Allied Works Ltd.

The inventory records show that these items were supplied and received on Senator Nwaoboshi’s business premises and warehouse. Meanwhile, the contracts were awarded to him.

However, some of the items supplied to Nwaoboshi’s warehouse through his cronies, were later resold to the Delta state government, while the others were sold to other states through contracts awarded to him.

All supply agreements were signed by one and the same person being Mr. Agbamuche Nelson, traceable to Senator Nwaoboshi. This is in flagrant contravention of section 58(4) (a) and (d) of the Public Procurement Act. No wonder Sen. Nwaoboshi and his cohorts are jittery about the ongoing forensic audit exercise in the NDDC and are doing everything possible to derail it.

We believe that until Senator Nwaoboshi can absolve himself of his role in the looting of the resources of the Commission, he should step aside from any investigative activity against the Commission.

NDDC deserves the freedom to deliver on its mandate.

Charles Obi Odili

Director, Corporate Affairs



June 8, 2020.

“It is more disheartening when you now see that, against the term of reference by the President of the country, which is to probe the NDDC managements from the past, these lawmakers, with sinister motives and agenda, are bent on investigating the Interim Management Committee that the President is using to run skeletal services at the agency, while his Forensic Audit lasts.”

Last month, May 2020, a letter written and transmitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from the Office of the Clerk of the Nigerian Senate, was initiated by the Deputy Senate President’s office, seeking the anti-corruption agency’s support in what it called “it’s ongoing inquiry into the affairs of core members of the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).”

According to the “Senate”, “An Ad-hoc committee has been set up to investigate allegations of fraud and money laundering brought against the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, members of the Interim Management of Niger Delta Development (NDDC) and certain contractors.

In this inquiry, the subject matter shall be the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Honourable Godswill Akpabio.” it went on.

By this letter obtained through a reliable source, the Office of the Clerk of the Senate is believed to have confirmed the hitherto doubted involvement of certain members of the National Assembly in the witch-hunt of the IMC because of their own level of involvement in the corruption at the NDDC, predating the IMC.

To this end, watchers of events in the sector say vested interests, within the Senate, have chosen to act rather clever by half in covering up for their past and recent sleazy deals in the NDDC resulting in some of the most outrageous heist of common wealth in Nigeria.

Many Nigerians have been fed with all negative news about Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, the Interim Management Committee (IMC) headed by Professor Pondei and Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, the Executive Director Projects among others at the NDDC.

These were the information that sipped into the media space until the FACTS began popping up when the targets of the media smear campaign started revealing the facts. Yes, verifiable and documented facts.

The truth, according to IMC, is that there are some members of the past and current National Assembly who had hijacked the NDDC, a federal government agency, set up with good intentions to better the lives and banish poverty from the people of Niger Delta.

The objectives of setting up the NDDC failed flat on its face, as it became a conduit pipe for funding their personal economic, social and political projects.

Dr. Cairo Ojougboh specifically laid bare one of the syndicates when he spoke on Arise TV about how this cabal in the past, paid ₦50 billion in one day, not one month, to some non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for no justifiable reasons. Dr. Ojougboh had on him, records to show as they are now in the custody of the IMC.

Our investigations revealed that efforts to dominate the media, particularly the social media with misleading information about the real issues in the NDDC, are to cover up for the deep-rooted corruption in NDDC for which reason President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the past management and replaced it with the current Interim Management Committee.

Their role is to hold forth while the Forensic Audit ordered by Mr. President is seen to a conclusion. This Forensic Audit is now unravelling the mystery surrounding the disappearance of trillions of Naira pumped into the commission from inception to the present time.

It’s therefore, shocking, to put it mildly, that Mr. President, desirous of a high quality life for Niger Deltans, set up an IMC and ordered a forensic audit, only for the office of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to instruct the Office of the Clerk of the Senate to write a dubious letter to EFCC, seeking its assistance to DEAL with Akpabio, thereby giving the impression that the letter emanated from the National Assembly instead of the NDDC cabal at the National Assembly.

Why this abuse of privilege? Why this deception? Is it simply for Akpabio doing his job as minister, saying never again will NDDC be run as a private estate of any person?

Any wonder few days ago, Niger Delta leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, reinforced the demands for probe of the Cabal at the National Assembly. He took responsibility on behalf of other leaders of the region for their conspiracy of silence while the NDDC, since its creation 20 years ago, has been raped and drained to the detriment of the good and long suffering people of the Niger Delta.

Chief Clark therefore called on the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to as a matter of urgency commence the investigation of their members in the light of huge revelations and accusations being uncovered, as the IMC charged with that responsibility by President Buhari continues to work.

A public opinion sampled during our investigations expressed sadness that instead of the leadership of the National Assembly to back the President and those he sent to clean up the NDDC and support the independent investigation of the citadel of corruption, it is insisting on being the one to probe the NDDC which is already being probed by the President, in whom is vested the authority by the constitution.

“It is more disheartening when you now see that, against the term of reference by the President of the country, which is to probe the NDDC managements from the past, these lawmakers, with sinister motives and agenda, are bent on investigating the Interim Management Committee that the President is using to run skeletal services at the agency, while his Forensic Audit lasts.

“The NDDC Cabal at the National Assembly, who are interested parties, are insisting on being judges in their own cases, suggesting they KNOW that they have skeletons in their cupboards,” a stakeholder said.

Another source, reacting to the letter written to the EFCC by the Office of the Clerk of the Senate with instruction from the Office of the Deputy Senate President, described the latest move by the National Assembly as disrespectful to the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

“This insult on President Buhari from the NASS should by now be enough. This IMC is just a new body. What the President is investigating is broad but they, at all cost want to cover their evils by restricting the probe to a period of near inactivity when there is even no budget from which the IMC could steal (if they were thieves at all). Again, why the Minister? I think the IMC has a boss,” he said.

Senator Akpabio is an appointee of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. President Buhari listens to Nigerians but he knows a smear campaign when he sees one. This letter, from the Senate, is odious and an effort in futility. It runs counter to the objectives of Mr. President and his dreams for the people of Niger Delta. The cleaning of the NDDC is a task that is close to the heart of President Buhari. It must be done.

It was Mark Twain that was quoted to have said that “A lie can travel around the world and back again, while the truth is lacing up its boots.” This best describes the speed of light with which the lies peddled against the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, by no less a person than the Senate Committee Chairman on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, representing Delta North for a second time.

It is no longer news that the insistence of the Minister that the Forensic Audit instituted by President Muhammadu Buhari on NDDC must see the light of day has upset many interests in the Niger Delta, Chief amongst them being the various National Assembly Committees on Niger Delta. Every spanner has virtually been thrown into the works, to ensure that the audit is crushed. The desperation on the part of those alleged to have held the region hostage has reached an unimaginable crescendo as they daily churn out spurious lies, half truths, twists and turns through various media channels.

Recently, the Senate Committee Chairman on NDDC, Peter Nwaoboshi, peddled a heinous falsehood against Sen. Akpabio about a certain N300m naira fencing contract for a Polytechnic in Akwa Ibom State. It is important to begin by saying that every other allegation, founded or unfounded, against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Akpabio and the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC, at this time, is part of the attempt to distract them from the Forensic audit which they are supervising. This fact does not, in any way, deify these personalities. No! They are humans, with their weaknesses. But they are so bent on sanitizing the NDDC, at this time, that they need our support to see through the forensic audit.
Nwaoboshi lied without recourse to the oath he swore as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to uphold the Constitution, while brandishing documents that have no substance in his allegations. It is surprising that a man who has found himself through the corridors of power for several years now is not done with such mannerisms as to deceive the public over what is a Zonal Intervention Project meant for Akpabio as Senate Minority Leader which has nothing to do with the NDDC budget as the Presidency, every year, makes provisions for the two Houses of the National Assembly.

That said, Sen. Akpabio has in response to the allegation of N300m contract, denied ever being an NDDC contractor, and insists that Zonal intervention projects of the Senate minority leader is different from NDDC budgeted projects. In real terms, zonal intervention projects of NASS are NOT done with NDDC budget. Project intervention which has a threshold for each Senator and each House of Representative member is a Federally approved Program of the NASS, annually.

The Senators identify cum suggest the projects, in writing, through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In most cases Senators do not know the companies that win the contracts after the bidding is done, by the domiciling agencies. It is therefore shameful that a high ranking Senator like Nwaoboshi would seek to bring the sacred chambers of the National Assembly to riddicule. In his bid to stop the Forensic Audit of the NDDC, he has succeeded in undermining the integrity of the Senate and by extension, the Legislature.

Such is his unparalleled desperation that he has succeeded in corrupting the Clerk of the Senate and inducing him into an inglorious path in exchange for an extension of his Service year, a move that has generated knocks against the NASS.

In fact, for a Clerk of the Senate begging for extension with retirement at his door step to release such zonal intervention letters to Peter Nwaoboshi for a press conference, with a view to deceiving the public, says a lot about how far desperate people can go to sink a good cause. Sen Nwaoboshi lied, in this case, as those contracts referred thereto were Senate Zonal intervention jobs and none has been paid for nor performed, since 2017! It is important for Nwaoboshi to also come forward with proof of payment for the purported job and effectively link the contractors to Sen. Akpabio.

The supposed fencing project began and ended on that piece of paper being bandied by Nwaoboshi, unless he has added it to the 1,000 contracts awarded to his front man, Nelson Agbamuche. Otherwise, the embattled Senator should bring proof of the contract award with the name of the company to which it was awarded. Nigerians are not gullible to believe the lying Senator who has failed to show evidence of payment made to any company belonging to Akpabio or his crony. Again, is there any proof that the job has been executed?

It has become clear that many Senators were deceived to suggest projects to be executed in their constituencies, and even though they were appropriated but were never executed. Why is Nwaoboshi desperate to cover the lies even before the Auditors are through? If payments were made for such jobs as he claims, is it not proper to allow the Forensic Audit expose the real beneficiaries?

Is he afraid that other lawmakers will discover his grand deception over the years where he has used his position as Senate Committee Chairman to amass voluminous, phantom contracts to himself through his proxy? Should only one Senator be running amok on National Television over a Presidential order for a Forensic Audit?

Akpabio is the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and requests for patience because in no distant time the Forensic Audit will expose those complicit in the failure of the NDDC and all who joined to impoverish the Niger Delta region. In any case what has N300m fence job got to do with N3 trillion naira fraud? Or is Senator Nwaoboshi trying to justify his 1000 NDDC contracts, as alleged by the Executive Director -Projects (EDP), NDDC, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, against him and his cohorts, Nelson Agbamuche and co? Mr. Agbamuche says the hundreds of jobs he controls do not belong to Peter Nwaoboshi who purportedly acted and continues to act on behalf of members of NASS, but what is left is for Mr. Agbamuche to prove how he won all the jobs and why he merits such quantum of jobs per year.

It is a view held in some quarters that the self-styled oracle of Delta state Politics and Senator Representing Delta North Senatorial District mistakes the Delta in Niger DELTA Development Commission (NDDC) to the effect that the commission is a property of Delta State where his brazen rascality is dreaded by those who deify him.

Thus he believes he can turn NDDC into his own ATM with which he churns out emergency projects, even in time of no emergency. Nothing else explains how NDDC under his oversight supervision is committed to over 2 trillion naira concerns which has crippled the agency.

The NDDC, therefore has no regional project to its name. Only emergency repairs and aimless trainings, running into billions of naira as well as his annual contract for the supply of plastic chairs to schools.

This contract which gulps over 3 billion naira annually is usually executed in his personal warehouse in Asaba and never reaches the selected schools, yet, NDDC pays in full for it. These and many more are part of sleaze already exposed by the forensic audit for which they can do anything to make sure it is never completed.

As a matter fact, Sen. Nwaoboshi who has pending cases with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) involving over 22 illegal bank accounts is also the same man who purchased The Guinea House, belonging to Delta State Government, a deal that has become subject of public outcry. This is not a man who should adorn a saintly garb and pretend to care about anything except that which enriches him.

Part of the inability of the NDDC to meet their mandate to the people is the penchant of Sen. Nwaoboshi and his counterpart in the House of Reps to sit on the NDDC budget for months into the fiscal year, until they extract some huge financial commitments from the management of the NDDC or phantom projects are padded into the budget, even if it means, as in most cases, supplanting meaningful projects in the region.

This calls to question the source of the powers of a committee Chairman to adjust timeline for budget defense and presentation, as Sen. Nwaoboshi has been doing.

Just recently, the duo of Nwaoboshi and his House of Representatives counterpart without recourse to plenary, extended the deadline for the submission of the NDDC Budget for 2019, submitted it 5 weeks to its expiration, in order to ensure that it is not implemented for the selfish reason of forcing the IMC to pay for old contracts awarded by the previous Boards.

The Budget failure is simply because only two people sit in the comfort of their hotels to assign details of the Budget, thereby allocating huge sums to Training, Medical Retreat and other non physical and meaningful projects.

It might also suffice here to say that whatever financial misappropriation levelled against Akpabio or anyone else, in the context of the NDDC can best be exposed by the forensic audit. So why not let it thrive?

It is obvious that Nwaoboshi has so much to cover up as he is running against time. Could it be that he was elected as Senator for NDDC since he has in the past few weeks devoted so much time and resources to frustrate the Forensic Audit by throwing ceaseless mud at the supervising Minister and members of the Interim Management Committee?

Senator Nwaoboshi's unlimited lies only confirm that he has been the unseen hand that has run the NDDC aground and has kept the Niger Delta region in chains under the Change Government.

Will the leadership of the National Assembly look the other way while a senator cause such grave injustice to a people, so rich yet so helpless? Time will surely reveal the truth.

Francis Udoka Ndimkoha is the National Publicity Secretary of Citizens Question For Truth Initiative.
Contact: citizensquest247@gmail.com

Abia State House of Assembly the Present Speaker Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji is doing marvelously well, they have projected the State House of Assembly to the entire World, this is laudable. Kudos to them

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in the 3rd Quarter of the Year 2000, under the Act No.6 of the National Assembly which provides for the repeal of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Commission Decree 1998. This bold move was geared towards a re-organized management structure for an effective Commission by the Federal Government, in favour of the Oil producing areas of the Nigeria, otherwise referred to as the Niger Delta region.

The agitation for resource control by the Niger Delta region which has resulted in the 13 percent derivation fund, paid directly to the Niger Delta States, is obviously not commensurate to tackle the ecological challenges and environmental degradation which is the Siamese twins of oil exploration. The NDDC was therefore envisioned to stand in the gap, as a direct presence of the Federal Government in the region.

After 19 years of the establishment of NDDC, it is worrisome, that the vision of the founding fathers has remained far-fetched, rather, the Commission became a prisoner of sorts, to vested interests who had turned it into an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). The annual budget of NDDC, which runs into billions of Naira has not made deeply felt impact in the lives of the people of the region. It turns out that a few people have become billionaires by constantly calling the shots in the Commission. Nobody dares ask any questions, else, one would have dared to ask how NDDC awards contracts for the supply of desks and chairs, to schools in the region, to the same contractor, at over N3bn annually. There is evidence that this annual contract is never executed. Rather, the contractor delivers a couple of desks and chairs to his own warehouse, and uses same to service similar contracts from State Governments in the Niger Delta region.

The rot in the Commission had eaten to deep that despite billions of Naira allocated to meaningful projects, only activities like “Training”, “Desilting”, “Solar Power” and “Workshop” get quick attention, and gulp huge sums of money, like the N6.4 billion that generated controversy, sometime ago. The IMC of NDDC reportedly received a request for payment of some phantom skills acquisition programme, to the tune of N3.842bn, representing about 60 percent of the total sum of N6.404bn. The refusal of the IMC to honour such spurious request, it is believed, is partly the reason for the numerous petitions and “sudden” probe.

President Mohammadu Buhari chose to rejig the Commission after several scandals and petitions bothering on fraud, but decided that it will be worthwhile to know the history of funding of the Commission, so as to chart a course for the future. This resulted in the Forensic Audit of the 19 years of the Commission, which, of course, includes the first 4 years of the Buhari administration.

No sooner had the Audit began, than fireworks rented the air, in the guise of petitions. A barrage of petition has inundated the Presidency, all in an attempt to stop the audit.

When it seemed like the petition wouldn’t yield the desired result, the sponsors of the faceless group of petitioners resorted to using another arm of the Government, to stop the President. This time, they resorted to the National Assembly!

It may sound funny, but how come the National Assembly wants to probe, as a matter of urgency, the Prof. Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei led Interim Management Committee (IMC), charged by the President to run the affairs of the Commission during the period of the Forensic Audit? One would have expected that any lapses stemming from the audit, would be addressed upon completion of the audit but the haste to initiate an audit of the supervisors of the Audut looms a garb of a well-conceived distraction attempt.

Obviously, the forensic audit will expose contract padding and duplication, multiple contracts by selected folder companies, shady and underhand dealings of colluding Civil Servants, including those who resort to petitions when affected by routine transfer, from the “juicy” Headquarters among other anomalies.

It appears that the bold move by the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio to usher in a new lease of life at the Harold Dappa Biriye building, Headquarters of the NDDC, by redeploying some of the old hands there, meant a threat of extinction to those who have, over the years, made brisk business with those contacts. The uproar that trailed the transfer is not ordinary. The outcry has dwarfed that of a baby hastily withdrawn from the mother’s breast!

It is important to note, at this juncture, that the Civil Servants are just small fishes, in the big river of things happening in NDDC. They are, though, indispensable in the happenings, but small fishes, nonetheless.

It is alleged in some quarters that the major clog in the wheels of progress of the Niger Delta region are those in whose hands it is to create the enabling laws for the success of the NDDC. And as an Ex-lawmaker, Sen. Akpabio is obviously bringing to bear, his wealth of experience in the National Assembly, which only complements his experience as an Ex- Governor of a critical oil producing state in Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State. No wonder he quickly cancelled the consultancy contracts for the collection of statutory payments of 3 percent of the annual budget of oil companies in the region. These contracts which were being handled by Candour Capital Limited as well as Starline, was a huge surge pipe for siphoning billions of naira accruing to the NDDC, which was paid to these contractors as their “commission.” The companies are believed to be owned by former and serving Legislators, Politicians, albeit through fronts. The cancellation of these contracts certainly unsettled the real owners of the companies, and so, the move to probe the IMC, while they are yet to complete their 19 years audit, needs no further explanation. It is what it is; a distraction!

Apart from these consultancy contracts, most of these legislators, especially those heading the various Committees on NDDC and Niger Delta, in the National Assembly, allegedly have several funny contracts, to their name, most of which are fully paid for, but never executed. A certain Senator from Delta state and a House of Reps member from Ondo state were fingered in this regard. Yet these contacts are an annual feature in the budget of the Commission. These are among the various infractions in the Commission that the forensic audit was meant to unravel.

Again, it is worrisome that the NDDC, has after 19 years, not been able to complete her Headquarters complex, in Rivers state. Thus, NDDC, has remained a tenant, at the Harold Dappa Biriye House, where they were paying a whooping N300m annually, even when evidence shows that the building was a donation by the Rivers State Government under Dr Peter Odili, a decision that is yet to be rescinded! It is a matter of probe for the Forensic Auditors to ascertain who is fraudulently collecting this money. This amount, ordinarily, should be a reason to hasten the completion of the Headquarters, to stop the bleeding of scarce resources, but how can that be when there are people gladly fishing in the troubled waters?
This is also the situation in most state offices of the NDDC. The Imo State office of the Commission,
for example, which is located along Owerri-Port Harcourt road, near the Appeal Court Complex, has not seen any activity in years. It was abandoned on the first floor. Who knows if checks may reveal that provision is made in the annual budget of the Commission for this project.

This piece should not be misconstrued as an attempt to shield the IMC from probe. No! The IMC is peopled by equally falling humans, who must, by nature, have their flaws. It therefore means that they’re not foolproof. But it is only reasonable to allow them complete the very daunting task of a holistic audit of the Commission, after which their own tenure will be scrutinized. This will ensure that there is no compromise and that the very wonderful idea of a forensic audit is not botched.

To this end, the various studs thrown at the IMC, only gives one primary indication; some people are definitely not comfortable with the reality of a forensic audit.

So, who is afraid of the probe?

Is it the IMC that has spent only 6 months in office? What harm would have been dobe in 6 months, that ‘urgently’ needs to be addressed, so urgently, that the forensic audit of 19 years should be thrown under the bus?

Is it possible that the 6 months old IMC has seen more funds, in a COVID-19 era of crashed oil prices, than the last 19 years, some of which were an era oil boom?

One can easily deduce that someone, somewhere is dead-scared of the outcome of the NDDC Forensic Audit, and can do anything to make sure it does not succeed. These faceless enemies of the region must be stopped and the Forensic Audit concluded in record time, for the benefit of the beleaguered people of the Niger Delta region.

It is no gainsaying that Sen. Godswill Akpabio and the IMC need the support of all the Niger Deltans, at this time, to help stop the NDDC cabal that has taken into their custody the collective patrimony of the people of the region.

President Muhammadu Buhari must not allow himself to be misled into endorsing such an attempt at undermining his good intentions to sanitize the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and by implication, the Niger Delta region.

Francis Udoka Ndimkoha,

National Publicity Secretary/ Imo State Coordinator, Citizens Quest For Truth Initiative, writes from Owerri.
Email: citizensquest247@gmail.com

The Underdevelopment Of The Niger Delta… Why the restless Hyenas and Jackals are regrouping By Oby Ndukwe



In my first series on the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC titled: 20 YEAR SIEGE BROKEN, I tried to briefly state what the real issues are beyond the unending petitions, allegations and counter allegations against practically every Management Board that has been inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari, since 2015.
For the benefit of those who may have not come across it, I will quickly summarize the issues before dwelling on the second part of the series.



While it is not in contention that the Niger Delta Development Commission is the most plundered of the Federal Government Agencies since its inception, more than 19 years ago, the region is presently the most underdeveloped when placed in consideration with the resources it produces that has sustained the economy of over 200 million people.
And the President ordered for a Forensic Audit of the Commission to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and claims made against several Managements, and all hell has been let loose!

More intense than ever, the petitions and Court cases increased astronomically as the aggrieved Directors and Deputy Directors who were recently transferred out of the Commission’s Headquarters doled out thousands of Dollars and millions of Naira brought to bear paid agitators and what best can be described as professional petition writers. These young men who have been grouped as Niger Delta youth organizations have over the past years, become willing tools in the hands of these senior Civil Servants who have developed an attitude of a sense of entitlement, having attained the age of Methuselah in the Commission, from the days of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC.



They have actually turned into a cabal who force the politicians appointed to man the place to do their bidding and have subjugated the Management to make payments to only contracts awarded to their cronies.

It is also no longer a hidden truth that majority of these Civil Servants pay allegiance to the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, through which majority of them were employed and transferred to the cash cow commission. For the 19 year period under review, the PDP from inception had controlled the reins of power in the Commission, as such have systematically entrenched a chain of supply of contracts, both real and inflated, and sometimes, imaginary and non existing, to their own benefit, while the aiding workers are rewarded with promotion and other benefits.

These set of advanced pilfering rats in the Commission have transformed to the real owners of the land that it had become needless responding to the late legendary music icon, Sunny Okosun in one of his tracks, “Who wants to know who owns the land?”

They have a huge financial war chest, dubiously acquired through the commission, to prosecute their media attacks against whoever stands in their way, or tries to step on their toes, coupled with the backing of the powerful PDP cabal who allegedly paid their way to control the Committees in charge of the NDDC and the Niger Delta at the National Assembly.

The rot at the Headquarters of the Commission cannot be linked only to the senior members of Staff without a mention of the ongoing, ceaseless sleaze perpetuated by those who ought to oversee the workings of the place.
For instance, is it not shocking that a Director in the Finance Department owns a Plastic Factory from where school desks and chairs are produced and he can afford to make approvals to the tune of N40bn in a year? Worse is that these plastic school desks and chairs are not durable and can only last a few months.



But the man in question who was affected by the recent transfers of Senior members of Staff is allegedly one of the sponsors of the series of petitions against the Interim Management Committee and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Again, another Lawmaker from Ondo State was awarded a contract for a 17km road. The shocking side of the story is that the contract, in a bid, to fall within the purview of the approving authorities, was divided into 11 Lots at the value of N950m each, totalling to the sum of N10. 4bn.

Though he is a senior member of the APC and also one of those heading the Committee on NDDC, he has been conscripted into the PDP cabal in the National Assembly, frustrating the development of the region.

Not only have they got the support of some APC leaders, they have ensured that the Budget for the region is slashed to a comfortable low where it would be practically impossible for the Federal Government to transform the region, thereby, using it as a campaign and blackmail tool against the President and his team.

It’s an orchestrated plot to frustrate the efforts of the ruling APC Government under President Muhammadu Buhari from developing the region. While the NDDC may be getting back on track, after the Audit of the 19 year period, there are still issues that must be resolved before the President can get it right.
The Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs had Usani Usani as the Minister from 2015 to 2019. Sadly, not much was seen on ground in terms of infrastructural development of the region. The signature project of the Ministry which is the East-West Road has been left comatose, since the exit of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Two years after, Buhari had set up a Presidential Committee to look into the issues surrounding the project and proffer ways on how the road could be completed from sections 1 to 4, from Warri to Oron.



The Committee which was headed by the Minister for Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi had recommended that the project be transferred to the National Sovereign Investment Authority, managers of the Presidential Infrastructural Development Fund, PIDF, formerly known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF.

Recall that the CEO of the NSIA, Mr Uche Orji was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan and had since been there, even with the emergence of President Buhari.
In 2017, the Ministry of Finance had released the sum of N19.5b for the payment of debts to the companies handling the road.

But till date, the money is yet to be released. President Buhari had gone ahead in 2018 to approve the sum of N100b for the completion of Sections 1 to 4 of the road. Sadly, two years after, while other projects are receiving attention, nothing has been done to commence work on the all important road.

Upon assumption of office as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio whose appointment was greeted with a large ovation due to his unrivaled performance as Governor which earned him the title of “The Uncommon Transformer” had pursued the payment of the backlog of debts with accurate velocity but was obstructed by a brick wall. The issues were clear that obviously, some persons were desperate to frustrate the completion of the road. Under the PIDF, there are 5 critical projects which include the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, East-West Rd, Kano-Abuja Road, 2nd Niger Bridge and the Mambilla Power Station. In all, only the East-West road has been left comatose.

There is a noiselessly deafening plot to undermine the President and those who chose him in preference to Jonathan during the 2015 election. Prominent amongst them is the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi who was the Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organization and later, the APC Presidential Campaign Organization. The PDP was and continues to nurse this habitual hatred for the former Governor of Rivers State for his role in torpedoing the fortunes of the party, after a 16 year straight hold on power from 1999 to 2015.

It is clear that those who hail from the Niger Delta region who are working to help Buhari actualize his plans for the people have become the enemies of the opposition party, PDP.
While there are rumors that President Jonathan may seek election in 2023, and with the PDP having a strong hold in the South South and South East, it is crystal clear that one of their major campaign tools in the region would be the inability of the APC Government to complete the East-West Road.

So, it is not doubtful that the CEO of the NSIA may be playing the PDP card in order to retain his position or preferably, offered a Ministerial position if the PDP returns to power in 2023.

To this end one is forced to ask if the motive of removing the East West project from the ministry of Niger Delta affairs to the Presidential Infrastructural Development Fund, PIDF isn’t sinister, since it is yet to meet the yearning and aspirations of the people of the Niger Delta region, and going by this continued delay in releasing already approved 19.8 billion as well as the 100billion for the completion of the road project? Again one wonders why the National Sovereign Investment Authority can’t release funds directly to the supervisory ministry for the completion of the East West Road Project just like the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program SURE-P did in the last administration and achieved significant results.

The sad reality is that for almost five (5) years President Buhari administration is yet to achieve much developmentally in the south south region and the earlier the rug is pulled off the foots of the PDP remnants like Mr Uche Orji and many others who have turned clog in the wheel of progress in this administration, the more difficult it will be for the president to achieve his development plan in the Niger Delta region.

The agenda to render useless, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, MNDA as well as the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC both engines with which the federal government drives its developmental agenda can no longer be overemphasized. With the understanding of this orchestrated plan by agents within the region working in connivance with other external conspirators, Senator Godswill Akpabio is leaving no stone unturned, his desire to get these development engines grinding again until the Niger Delta region experiences uncommon development commensurate with her resources.

Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe is the
Publisher, The Beam Newspaper, Port Harcourt
Email : beamnews@yahoo.com

The Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, has urged self-appointed professional and intending blackmailers to exhibit some human feelings and suspend their antics of blackmail and politics of 2023 for now and focus on how to help manage the global health issues(Corona Virus) at hand.

The Speaker stated this on Tuesday as a fallout to the Politics of calumny and bitterness being played by some political actors in the State.

He cautioned that no matter how hard the social media hirelings and their scared paymasters try to malign his reputation at this time, he will not respond to them as he is focused on how to better serve the people especially in this difficult era of the pandemic.

"It is better to focus energy on how to manage the Corona Virus Pandemic at hand, rather than waste money and other resources that ought to have been better deployed in providing palliatives to the people rather than wasting it on fruitless ventures of churning out propaganda on a daily basis, which is really becoming quite embarrassing for them",' he said.

The Speaker further assured that he will not dissipate energy responding to such mischievous antics and their failed and deceitful sponsors.
PUO 21/4/2020.

The coalition for Justice and equity has commended the Senator representing Abia Central, Chief T. A Orji for sponsoring the bill establishing the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the center that is currently handling the Covid 19 cases in Nigeria.

The State Secretary of coalition, Comrade Ambrose Chekwa in a statement issued in Abuja stated that the establishment of NCDC has helped in the management of the covid 19 that is challenging the world today.He commended the agency for the good job it is doing.

Comrade Chekwa described Senator T.A Orji as an asset not only to Abia State but the entire Nigeria. He informed that the Senator came up with the bill when he was a member of the Health Committee in the last Senate .

Recall that the Nigeria Senate in March 2018 passed the bill into law and it was reported in the media and one of the reports has this headline "Senate passes Centre for Disease control bill" Also, the story published in a reputable medium among others reads in parts "The Senate has passed a bill for the establishment of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the control of diseases in the country.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Theodore Orji (PDP, Abia) and presented for third reading by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases, Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP, Abia) on Thursday."

The State Secretary, Justice and equity, noted that prior to the passage of the bill, the NCDC, having been established in 2011 as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health with the mandate to coordinate public health response to communicable diseases of public health significance had never been backed with an Act of the Parliament.

He challenged other law makers to ensure they propose human face bills that would be of great impact to their constituents.

Good one

Governor of Abia State Of Nigeria Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has been asked to embark on a 14days self Isolation over Deadly Disease Corona Virus.

Ikpeazu who returned from Australia spent some weeks in America which has a high Risk of the COVID-19 Virus.

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 100 countries. For an estimated 80% of people, the virus represents mild ill health, but for a small number the consequences are more serious. And if enough people get sick at the same time, it could overwhelm health systems.

Globally, more than 138,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, the vast majority in China. The second largest outbreak is in Italy.

The World Health Organisation advised Travelers to You will need to restrict your movements for 14 days if they return from any Country with High Risk of Corona Virus which America and Australia Has.

See More >>>>> https://igbowatch.com/2020/03/20/governor-ikpeazu-asked-to-embark-on-14days-self-isolation-over-corona-virus/