No fewer than 30 members of the House of Representatives have been mandated to appear before the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges for allegedly receiving contracts worth N100billion from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Tribune reports that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the directive during the Thursday plenary when he referred the letter sent by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges for further investigation.
Some of the members listed in the controversial letter are from Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo, as well as unnamed ‘Caucus in the House of Representatives’.
Akpabio in the three-page letter with Ref. No: MNDA/HM/041/IV/158 dated 23rd July 2020, and titled ‘Some Niger Delta Development Commission contracts allegedly given to some members of the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives)’, alleged that the House investigating committee on NDDC refused and/or neglected to give him the “opportunity to explain the reference to most NDDC contracts yearly being awarded since 2001 from the records allegedly to members of the National Assembly in both chambers. However, the two chairmen of the committee on NDDC had adequate knowledge.”
The minister’s letter in part reads “It has always been known that the two chairmen of the Committees on NDDC in both chambers yearly exhibit unusual influence to the exclusion of committee members and even the management of NDDC in appropriating funds to details embellished in the budget after the passage of the line items at the plenaries. To show you some typical examples, herewith attached are documents showing nature of contracts, amount of such contracts (in some cases), date of awards and beneficiaries some were awarded to the two chairmen of both Committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively serving at the period of the awards (Annexures ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’). However due to the 48 hours’ notice, the Forensic Auditors could not sift through the thousands of files in their possession to provide more,” the minister informed the Speaker. Some of the members listed in the controversial letter are from Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo, as well as unnamed ‘Caucus in the House of Representatives.”