NDDC: Pondei Reveals Those That Are Scared Of Investigation

The acting managing director of the Nigeria Delta Development Commission, Kemebradikumo Pondei, has revealed those that are scared of the ongoing investigation in the commission.

Pondei noted that people who are scared of the ongoing forensic audit are individuals who got emergency contracts.

Recall that the Senate had earlier stated that the NDDC acting MD and other IMC members got 20-30 per cent of contract sums before contractors are paid.

The Ad-hoc committee headed by Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi noted that the claims by the IMC and Minister for Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, is 95 per cent false.

Other members of the committee are Senators Jika Dauda Haliru (APC – Bauchi Central); Mohammed Tanko Almakura (APC – Nasarawa South); Abdulfatai Buhari (APC – Oyo North); Chukwuka Utazi (PDP – Enugu North); Ibrahim Hadeija (APC – Jigawa North); and Biobarakuma Wangaha (APC – Bayelsa East).

Pondei in a statement released through his spokesperson, Edgar Ebigoni, noted that his principal denied the allegations and challenged anyone to come forward with evidence.

He said Pondei stated that he never requested or received kickbacks.

“It is therefore surprising and disappointing the Senate Committee can be attributed with unproven allegations as their final report,” he said.

Ebigoni said the committee chose to believe the naysayers who claimed that the NDDC headquarters was not nearing completion.

“Whatever made the Senate Ad-Hoc sit in Abuja to accept a negative report rather than accept the challenge of the IMC to visit the headquarters themselves, for an unbiased assessment, is yet unknown. The admittance of the committee that the Forensic Audit is ongoing is a welcome development,” he added.

He noted that the “those mentioned in the emergency contract sleaze” were trying to get back at the IMC “for daring to name and shame those who have held the commission and the region hostage for years.”

“The siege is finally broken. Neither Pondei nor any member of the IMC has sought or received any bribe for performing their duties. The Forensic Audit will actually unravel the issue of over-invoicing and contract inflation, among other things. It will follow the money trail and expose those who shared such monies with the contractors.”

“The IMC has been undertaking a painstaking evaluation of projects before approving any historical debt payment, no matter the level of documentary progress already recorded. Previous project valuations have been slashed and the actual value of work done determined.”

“Most emergency contractors are therefore no longer getting the humongous figures they had been promised by their co-conspirators within the Commission. The reduced payment is a saving for the Commission and the Niger Delta, not a payment for the persons in the IMC or the Commission.”