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Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission have accused Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, of misleading the parliament and the public. Honourable Thomas Ereyi-Tobi, who is presiding over the hearing, also accused Akpabio of lying under oath while testifying before the panel. “I have listened attentively through all your submissions but I just want to tell you one thing, you came here to mislead the parliament and you are under oath. That is what you have done deliberately. “You decided to just come here and mislead the parliament. I want to put it to you that your submission and all the annexures, 8,9,10 and 11 are misleading. “Before then, you said you have no link of any contract between yourself and NDDC, your job is just to supervise but correspondences show you have been given approval of forensic auditor and contracts.” Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Daniel Pondei, had earlier fainted while he was being questioned b...

Contract splitting is rampant in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godswill Akpabio, said on Monday. According to him, the management of the agency indulges in splitting contracts to outwit the minister and evade approval. Speaking before the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta in Abuja, the minister alleged that the agency spent “over N4.2 billion in a day in tranches of N49 million.” The committee is probing how N40 billion was spent by the Interim Management Committee (IMC). Akpabio was invited with the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei. Pondei fainted during the proceedings and had to be revived and taken to the hospital. The minister also told the panel why Ms. Joi Nunieh was sacked as the agency’s managing director. Ms Nunieh, Akpabio said, was sacked, following a letter from the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, that she did not posses the requisite qualification to occu...