Our Reporter
The Niger Delta Alliance (NDYA) has said that Dr Cairo Ojougboh cannot be trusted because his claims on the Commission have twice been refuted by Niger Delta Minister Godswill Akpabio.
The youth group took a swipe at the Executive Director of Projects at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in a statement signed on Thursday by its National Coordinator, Sylvester Maggi.
It stated that the assertion earlier made by Ojougboh during Arise Television interview on May 25, 2020 that Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo benefited from NDDC contracts had twice been refuted by Senator Godswill Akpabio.
The statement reads in part, “We are aware that Dr Cairo Ojougboh had earlier on May 25, 2020 averred that the NDDC House Committee Chairman was one of the illegal beneficiaries of corruptly awarded NDDC projects. It is however surprising that this claim had been denied by the Minister in charge of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio.
Senator Akapbio has stated in a statement he personally signed on Thursday that he never referred to members of the 9th National Assembly as beneficiary of NDDC contracts. He added that no budget has been fully implement by NDDC since the commencement of the 9th National Assembly.
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According to Akpabio, “In fact, the 2019 budget passed in February and harmonized between the 4th and 5th of March 2020 was received by the commission in the middle of April 2020, when same was designated to expire on 31st of May 2020”.
The statement further stated that the claim of Ojougboh had been refuted on two different occasions by the supervising minister in charge of NDDC.
The group added it was rather disappointing that Senator Akpabio has only managed to offer apology after the 48 hours ultimatum given to him by the House of Representatives Speaker instead of members of 9th National Assembly that were falsely accused of getting 60% of NDDC contracts.
Meanwhile, the youth group has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to provide the needed leadership in purging the NDDC of corrupt managers and corrupt tendencies.
The statement added that there was no better time than now to expose, block loopholes of corruption and prosecute corrupt managers in the affairs of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
“We are not unmindful of the fact that corrupt practices have become deeply entrenched in the NDDC. But now is the best time to combat the scourge of corruption in the Niger Delta interventionist commission. President Buhari should provide the needed leadership that will resolve the intractable problem of mindless corruption in the NDDC once and for all. The president should not allow the looting of the commonwealth of the people of Niger Delta to continue”.
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