.Ex-MD’s Sons Go Underground As Father Battles Bode George’s Fate!
By Hamilton Nwosa, Head, The New Diplomat Business Desk
On this particular day as the door of the British Airways flight to London swung open, a young man in his 30s strode into the first class section, and took his seat with pomp and pageantry. The grandeur with which the young man, who was later identified as Christopher Brambaifa, son of the acting managing director of the multi-billion naira-guzzling Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nelson Brambaifa, a professor of pharmacology, triggered some spectacle amongst some passengers.
In normal life, the young Chris Brambaifa, has no other means of livelihood. He has just barely graduated from the University of Port-Harcourt, and was hustling for employment when his father landed at the NDDC as acting MD. He was nominated as acting CEO of NDDC to fill the vacant position following the exit of Mr Nsima Ekere, who had resigned to contest the governorship elections in Akwa Ibom State. But some passengers on this particular flight were more concerned about how a young chap, who should be undertaking more sustainable endeavours, could be so lavish with funds under an austere, financially strict Buhari’s administration.
“How can a whole Professor (Prof Brambaifa) destroy the lives of his kids in this way? What is this young man doing for a living besides being an SA(Special Assistant) to his father at NDDC and playing the role of a financial pimp for contractors and the management of NDDC headed by his father? When his father leaves NDDC, can he sustain this fraudulent live of opulence and lavishness?’’, one angry passenger from the Niger Delta region who knew deeply the financial happenings at the NDDC, queried.
The above drama graphically illustrates the financial devastation, wreckage that characterized the operations of the NDDC under Brambaifa as acting managing director. Sources reveal that as soon as Brambaifa, a Professor of Pharmacology who hails from Sagbama local government area of Bayelsa State, just like Governor Seriake Dickson, landed the top job at NDDC, he allegedly went for broke in his devices to pilfer, pillage the Commission financially. Several documents sighted by The New Diplomat reveal how Brambaifa and his team violated and breached extant financial rules, public service governance ethics, stood due process completely on its head. At a time when President Muhammadu Buhari, directed serving Ministers to fly business or economy class, Brambaifa’s kids(Christopher and David whom Brambaifa named as his Special Assistants against corporate ethics and conflict of interest) were busy flying first class, hosting endless lavish parties at NICON Hilton, and cruising around town in exotic cars, including a white Lamborghini which was permanently parked in front of Transcorp, Abuja.
How did they manage to rip-off the NDDC? Some concerned top bureaucrats at the NDDC are embittered that despite their wise counsel to Brambaifa , the erstwhile NDDC managing director and his sons chose the path of open violation of extant rules and due process in their alleged illicit financial deals. This has spurred these bureaucrats to lift the veil on some transactions which show how the Brambaifas split N10bn contract to circumvent procedural memo to the Federal Executive Council(FEC.)
A very senior director at the NDDC narrated to The New Diplomat: “ The threshold was one billion naira. So if the project or contract is up to the threshold of N1bn, it has be taken to the Federal Executive Council by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs for approval. But Brambaifa-led management devised a means to evade that FEC scrutiny by splitting and awarding several contracts amounting to billions of naira. Look at that document(See document attached), you will see the following contracts that were split into various so-called lots. We warned him(Brambaifa) but he didn’t listen. We told him to call his sons to order, small boys living lavish lives, spraying dollars at parties in NDDC. Now they have gone underground…In that document, see for instance, how he split N10bn contract.
‘’Take note of the following contracts for example: (1.) Urgent desilting of blocked Sections of Mkpanak-Itak Idim Ekpe-Okposo Creek(Lot 5) was awarded for N896M.( 2). Urgent desilting of Blocked Sections of Mkpanak-Itak Idim Ekpe-Okposo Creek(Lot 4), was awarded for N895M. (3). Emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable Sections|Solar Powered Street Light of Internal Roads that Traverses through Igwuruta(Lot5)N873M. (4.) Emergency Construction of 11|33kv Injection Sub-station and Distribution of Electricity Within Ikwerre(Prestine Lakes Estates) in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State, (Lot1). It was awarded for N998M….So that was how Brambaifa carried on, just like Bode George did at NPA, where he was splitting contracts and Obasanjo’s government sent him to jail.” Several efforts to reach Brambaifa were unsuccessful as he neither pick his calls nor returned The New Diplomat’ s repeated telephone calls.
Surely, it doesn’t require the skills of a genius to understand how Brambaifa, a Professor who couldn’t even call his bad-mannered kids, unscrupulous children to order, turned due process on its head, and engaged in alleged massive contract-splitting that have spurred a N10bn controversy at the NDDC! Recall that in 2009, Chief Bode George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Chairman of Nigeria Ports Authority(NPA) was indicted for splitting N84bn contracts, and was subsequently sentenced to jail by an Ikeja High Court, without the option of a fine!
