EXPOSED: Obscene Corruption Being Perpetrated by NDDC's IMC and Akpabio
“Cairo Ojugboh's
incoherent babble of platitudes and blustery to dodge the questions was all the
more telling when he inadvertently confirmed the N4.8 billion Osmoserve Global
Limited contract for unspecified medical supplies”..... Comrade Godknows Sotonye
Following
revelations of corruption allegations leveled against the Minister of the Niger
Delta Affairs Ministry, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the Interim Management Committee,
IMC of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an attempt described as feeble,
to proffer explanations was provided concerning the humongous contract awards
and payments in recent weeks by the Commission.
A
group of stakeholders from the region under the aegis of Transparency and
Accountability Initiative Group has however, reiterated its stand, claiming
humongous corrupt practices been perpetuated by the IMC on one hand, and the
supervisory Minister, Godswill Akpabio.
The
group, in a statement on Monday 27 April, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state
capital, issued and signed by its national Coordinator, Comrade Godknows
Sotonye, revealed that following the allegations, the lot fell on Dr Cairo
Ojugboh, Acting Executive Director Projects of the IMC to give explanations.
Sotonye,
in the statement, said Dr. Ojugboh who appeared on a Channels TV program on
Sunday, April 26, to address the allegations and repeatedly invoked Akpabio's
name in a desperate bid to explain away the allegations.
“Ojugboh's
incoherent babble of platitudes and blustery to dodge the questions was all the
more telling when he inadvertently confirmed the N4.8 billion Osmoserve Global
Limited contract for unspecified medical supplies”.
“The
contract was awarded to Osmoserve on April 6 and an upfront payment of 55
percent was effected. In continuation of the practice under Akpabio and the
IMC, the award letter does not specify the lots, quantity and quality of
materials to be supplied, giving room for fraudulent manipulations”, Sotonye
stated.
Throwing
more light on the expose, the National Coordinator of the group revealed that, “Ojugboh's
testimony of lies and half-truths extends to the contract awarded to Signoria
Concept Services Limited”.
“The
letter to the company, dated April 6, 2020, reads; 'Award of Contract for the
Emergency Procurement of Specialized Medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
for Health Workers and Provision of Community Based Sensitization Campaign
Against the Spread of Covid-19 and other Communicable Diseases in the Nine
States of the Niger Delta Region' and signed by Head, Procurement Unit on the
instruction of the IMC.”
Comrade
Sotonye stressed that, what has happened is that Akpabio and the IMC are trying
to walk away from scandal because it has been busted and they are presently
destroying all the evidence of the award of the contract to Signoria Concept
Services Limited, which was made on April 6, 2020.
“Signoria
Concept Services Limited was also paid N357 million for maternal delivery kits
on February 22, 2020”, the statement read.
The
Transparency and Accountability Initiative boss stressed further that, “the two
awards made to Signoria and Osmoserve were signed by Head of Procurement on
behalf of the acting managing director/CEO of the Commission”.
“We
want to restate that both contract award letters dated April 6, 2020, were
signed by the Head of Procurement on behalf of the acting managing director of
the Commission. The contract award letter to Signoria has a Reference
Number NDDC/MD/HPU/20/4/EHSS/05, while the one to Osmoserve Global Limited has
Reference Number NDDC/MD/HPU/20/4/EHSS/02”.
The
group went further to state that, “following the award on April 6th, 2020, the
IMC has paid Osmoserve Global Limited upfront 55 percent of the contract value
of N4.8 billion”.
“Ojugboh
knows he cannot deny this payment to Osmoserve. If he does, we will release the
reference codes in the financial instruments used to pay them from the TSA to
the CBN records”, he insisted.
Speaking
further in the statement, it pointed out that, “Under intense questioning,
Ojugboh also admitted, rather shamelessly, that the IMC paid over N4 billion to
some firms for yet another medical supplies contract, this time for Lassa fever
and others”.
Clearly
the IMC was illegally put in place by Akpabio to enable him fleece the
Commission and line up his pockets. In making these questionable payments,
Akpabio and the IMC have depleted the NDDC bank balances, which was a total of
over N50 billion earlier this year to a little over N10 billion as at today,
the TAI group lamented.
“Even
in making these payments the IMC and their boss resorted to the dubious
practice of splitting payments to circumvent financial regulations. For
instance, some items in the over N4 billion payment made for Lassa fever and
other medical supplies were split in sums of N47, 166, 787 each all paid on the
same day, February 22, 2020. All of these can be confirmed from the TSA records
at the CBN and we have copies of these records”.
“What
is apparent to the people of the Niger Delta is that, Akpabio is using the
forensic audit as a dummy to mop up the accounts of the NDDC. It is clear that
Akpabio and the IMC have been exposed for what they are”.
“These
evidences of large scale larceny by the IMC of the NDDC and Akpabio, Minister
of Niger Delta Affairs, make a mockery of the anti corruption mantra of
President Buhari and is an insult to Niger Deltans and Nigerians who are
destitute, especially at a time when resources are limited and far between”,
the statement read.
President
Buhari has an official duty and a moral responsibility to Nigerians to put an
end to these grand heists which are happening under his watch.
”He
should as a matter of urgency bring order to the NDDC by disbanding the IMC
which has clearly shown itself to be a tool for fleecing the Niger Delta people
of their resources”.
“He
should also ensure that all funds looted by the IMC are recovered and ploughed
back into the development of the Niger Delta”, Comrade Sotonye said.
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