House of Representatives probes Nunieh’s house invasion

The House, also on Thursday, resolved to investigate the invasion and the siege laid to the home of the former acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Joi Nunieh, by men of the Nigeria Police.

At the plenary, the Deputy Chief Whip, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; and Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, jointly moved a motion titled: ‘Need to Investigate the Remote Causes of Police Invasion of the Former Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Joi Nunieh’s Residence on Friday, 16 June, 2020’.

‘Appoint amnesty programme coordinator’

In another development, the House has called for the appointment of a substantive coordinator for the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

The House, on Thursday, adopted a motion moved by Mr Preye Oseke, titled, ‘Urgent Need to Appoint a Substantive Coordinator for the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the Niger Delta Region’.

Following the adoption, the House mandated its Committee on National Security and Intelligence to interface with relevant agencies of government in ensuring that a substantive coordinator for the PAP was “urgently appointed in order to douse the already growing tension in the region.”

Meanwhile, the House Committee on the NDDC has indicted the commission’s Interim Management Committee after its investigation of alleged extra-budgetary spending and mismanagement of funds.

The committee recommended members of the IMC for prosecution by anti-corruption agencies for alleged breach of financial regulations.

At the plenary on Thursday, the committee laid its report on the probe, but the House stepped down its consideration for a review.

The Chairman of the committee, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who excused himself from the probe based on the demand of the IMC, laid the report.

Both the Senate and the House had on May 5, 2020, separately resolved to investigate the alleged spending of over N40bn by the Expanded Interim Management Committee of the NDDC between October 2019 and May 2020 without approval.

It was later discovered that the NDDC had spent N81.5bn by June 2020.

The committee recommended that “these gross violations should be reported to the anti-graft agencies for further investigation, prosecution and recovery.”

“The total sum made to the acting Managing Director (Prof. Daniel Pondei), the executive directors and other directors of the NDDC to attend overseas graduation be refunded, and failure to do so immediately, the anti-graft agencies should commence investigation, prosecution and recovery,” the committee recommended.

The panel also recommended that Ojuogboh should be sacked as director of projects, being a medical practitioner and not an engineer.

It said, “Based on Sections 12(1) and 12(1)(a) of the NDDC Act 2000, Dr Cairo Godson Ojuogboh is unqualified and unfit to occupy the office of Executive Director, Projects, NDDC, and should be discharged forthwith from that position and all affected employees recalled.”

It also said the monitoring and advisory bodies of the agency, which was recognised by the Act that established the NDDC, should be inaugurated immediately.

It noted that Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs had no capacity to supervise the forensic audit and therefore demanded that the Auditor-General for the Federation should take full charge of the exercise for transparency and efficiency.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said the report would be submitted to the President, who “is eagerly expecting it.”

Meanwhile, A civil society organisation, the Centre for Leadership and Justice, has called for the dissolution of the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission over allegations of mismanagement of funds meant for the development of the Niger Delta region.

The President of the group, Emmanuel Umohinyang, also expressed disappointment in the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, for failing to wield the big stick when it became obvious that the NDDC management was derailing from its objective.

Umohinyang explained in an interview with one of our correspondents that with the controversies surrounding the management of funds by the IMC, the committee did not deserve to continue to preside over the agency.

Umohinyang, who is the Convener, Re-elect Buhari, and currently an aide to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), warned that the NDDC might be scrapped if the people refused to fight for its survival.