The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has warned members of the public to beware of fake forms being circulated by dubious persons for a non-existent empowerment programme in agriculture.
NDDC’s Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Marcel Eshiogu, while drawing attention to the fraud, stated that the directorate was not privy to the issuance of the forms and there was an urgent need to redeem the image of the commission, to stem the scam.
He said: “The directorate feels that it is important to alert the public of the fraud, before it goes viral and dents the image of the commission and particularly the Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries.”
The Acting Managing Director of the Federal Government’s interventionist agency, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, had earlier declared that she did not authorise anybody to embark on any solicitation for prospective beneficiaries of the imaginary empowerment programme.
Semenitari, a former Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, also frowned on the unfortunate development, where her name was being used to defraud Nigerians.
She said: “NDDC did not authorise or delegate any individual to solicit, recommend or collect money from the public, in the name of empowerment.
“Dubious persons have devised the means of name-dropping to feed fat on unemployed people.”
The acting managing director of NDDC also stated that the commission under her leadership had been pursuing empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta, through various programmes and projects.