The Senate on Thursday made revelations on how the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) expended N81.5billion in just about eight months.
The revelation were made as Senate commenced investigation into the alleged financial recklessness that has made the NDDC a cesspool of corruption over the years.
Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee probing the NDDC, Senator Adebunmi Adetunmbi disclosed the amount was contained in the submission of the IMC to the Ad-hoc Committee.
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Ajetunmobi said the IMC (I) chaired by Mrs. Gbene Joi Nunieh between October 2019 to February 18, 2020 spent a total of N22.5billion out of the N81.5billion.
He added that the IMC (II) chaired by Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei between February 19, 2020 to May 31st 2020, spent N59.1billion.
Breakdown of spendings show that community relations gulped N1.3billion; Condolences N122million; Consultancy N83.8million; COVID-19 intervention N3.14billion; Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) – N486million (N302million of the amount spent by IMC II); Imprest N790.9million; Lassa fever – N1.956billion; legal fees N906million; Logistics N61million; maintenance N61million and medicals – N2.6billion.
Others are: Overseas travel (to UK for graduation ceremony in May 2020) N85.6million; Payments for projects – N38.6billion; Public Communications N1.121billion; Security (IMC I and II) N744million; Staffing Related Payment (Salaries and Allowances) N20.9billion; Stakeholders Engagement (by IMC II from February 19 to May 31st 2020) N248.9million and General travels – N56.5million.
The Ad-hoc Committee questioned why some of the payments, including those for projects were made to staff of the Commission.
Also, Adetunmbi demanded to know how N3.14billion allowance for COVID-19 was shared among the management and employees of the commission with one staff receiving N10million as “palliative”.
A further breakdown, according to the Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee, showed that NDDC paid N7million each to two other staff, N5 million to three staff each, N3 million each to 148 staff, N1.5 million each to 157 staff, and N1millon each to 497 staff.
The least staff who were mostly cleaners and security personnel in the commission got N600,000 each.
He also revealed that N475 million out of the amount was given to the “police for facemasks and hand sanitizers.”
He disclosed that N1.5billion in total was spent on NDDC staff as COVID-19 relief.
IMC Chair, Pondei while taking questions from the senators on the much amount it spent on staff as COVID-19 relief claimed that: “at the beginning of COVID-19, the NDDC as an intervention agency decided to intervene.
“The intervention came in this very form. We had challenges which triggered the intervention of a cash of N775 million to the nine states. They did not receive the same amount of money because in NDDC the states are treated according to the quantum of oil production.
“NDDC has over 4000 staff across the nine states each of these staff are also like representatives of their people. We were under a lot of pressure so we had to pay them too,” he said.
Executive Director Projects of NDDC, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, told the committee that no money is missing in the commission as all expenditures made where in accordance with due process.
He added: “In recent years, several allegations of corruption and unwholesome practices have been levelled against the Commission.
“The allegation that the EIMC has misapplied the sum of N40 Billion since inception is unfounded.”
Recall The New Diplomat had reported that the amount of money allegedly mismanaged at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) could be in excess of N40bn often reported in the media as an anti-corruption group recently said it has uncovered additional N35 billion alleged to have been illicitly expended by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC.
The anti-corruption group, Act for Positive Transformation Initiative said with its fresh revelation, a whooping sum of N75bn has been allegedly lost to corruption at the Commission, asking the Presidency and the National Assembly who had already initiated a probe into the scandal to re-launch again and beam its searchlight afresh on N75bn and not the initial N40bn it set out to investigate.
