Etteh was arrested on Tuesday by the Commission in Abuja for questioning.

Etteh was elected Speaker in 2007 but resigned only after a few months amid allegations of financial misappropriation.

She is the only woman in the country’s history to have been elected Speaker.

On Monday, the EFCC had also arrested the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) Ahmed Idris over an N80 billion fraud.

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President Buhari had earlier ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC in October 2019 to probe alleged financial misappropriation.

Speaking at the virtual commissioning of the NDDC Prototype Hostel at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, on Thursday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, Buhari pledged to prosecute those found culpable in accordance with the law.

He noted that it was regrettable that the special development fund of the entire region was squandered by a few for more than 20 years, leaving many in penury.

The President, who was quoted by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said, “The serial abuse, lack of delivery and what had become an entrenched institutional decay was the reason why I called for the forensic audit”.

“Therefore, going forward we shall ensure every recoverable kobo, is recovered for use in service of the people of this region and those found culpable shall face the Law.

“Consequently, I want to use the opportunity of this commissioning to direct all statutory contributors to the NDDC to remit all outstanding funds to the Commission, and to ensure this is done transparently and according to laid down procedure and process.

“The Niger Delta Development Commission needs to demonstrate that it can achieve the objectives it was conceived for and make its impact felt all over the Niger Delta Region. The lives of the people of the Niger Delta could be so much better, if the funding received by this commission since its inception, in billions of naira over the last 20 years, has been judiciously deployed in service of the people”, President Buhari added.

He further directed that all abandoned projects that directly impact the livelihood of the people should be revived and completed.

This is even as he noted that the contract for the building of 1,050 capacity hostel for male and female students was awarded in 2004, and like many others, it was abandoned.

He added, “When I directed the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to institute a forensic audit of the Commission, after many representations by major stakeholders in the Niger Delta, I had also directed that all viable projects which had been abandoned, but which would impact positively on the lives and livelihoods of the people, be immediately revived and completed.

“This prototype university hostel consists of 1,050-bed spaces, 525 each for males and females, and is furnished to meet the needs of a university student. The complex also boasts of significant hard and soft infrastructure to ensure its sustainability and durability.

“The completion of this structure is equally in recognition of the importance government attaches to providing quality housing and improved education for all Nigerians.”

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Although, not shocked by the alleged mischief inherent in the publication, the minister, however, said he was alarmed at the extent of falsehood the writers went in pushing “their anti- Niger Delta agenda”, to scuttle the due consideration of the report of the Forensic Audit by stampeding the government.

“More alarming is the attempt to drag the hallowed name of our president into this plot”, Akpabio said in a statement.

“My attention has been drawn to sponsored write ups in the media, claiming that I passed the buck on my responsibility for the constitution of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC).

“The write ups, deliberately published while I am  outside the country on national duty, reportedly quoted my media aide, Jackson Udom, claiming that I have denied responsibility for the constitution of the board of the Commission. I have checked with Mr Udom, and he has clearly said he was misquoted.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr President has set out to reposition the NDDC after 19 years of rot saw to the undermining of the dreams of the fathers of the region, to fast track its development through the setting up of an interventionist agency.

“Part of the strategy was a forensic audit to understand what went wrong, despite the resources committed  to the Commission over the years.

“The report of that audit has just been submitted to Mr President, who is studying it to come up with a formula for a commission fit for purpose. That formula is what the board being put together will work with”, the statement read.

It continued, “It is not in the interest of the region to stampede the government into aborting the reform process. The President has demonstrated immense love for the Niger Delta and its people. This is reflected in the support he has given to the NDDC to complete some of the projects abandoned over the years, like the headquarters complex in Port Harcourt, the Students’ Hostel at Uyo,  and the electrification project in Ondo State.

“The President wants to give to the region an interventionist agency that will realize the dreams of our fathers for our people and generations yet unborn.

“The greatest disservice we can do to the region is to attempt to stampede him, through ingeniously crafted media campaigns.

“I am irrevocably committed to assisting Mr President to leave behind a legacy for the Niger Delta people, particularly, saving the NDDC from dying like past developmental agencies put together for the region since 1958”, Akpabio reiterated.

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Akpabio made the claim at the weekly ministerial briefing held at the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The former Akwa Ibom governor explained that oil firms operating in the area are expected to provide three percent of their annual budgets to the commission, but none has complied with this.

He added that the Ministry of Niger Delta will take a keen interest in the implementation of the three percent Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) compensation to host communities.

Also, the minister stated that the NDDC owes contractors three trillion naira (₦3 trillion), just as he noted that not all awarded contracts with costs can be regarded as debt.

Speaking on the successes recorded so far in the Commission, the minister disclosed that about 109 projects – which would be commissioned soon – have been implemented in the South-South.

Funds from the Niger Delta Ministry –  which was established in 2008 with a hundred ₦200 billion –  shrank to ₦19 billion in 2020 and then rose slightly to ₦24 billion in 2021.

The minister emphasized that ₦10 billion out of the allocated fund has been dedicated to fix the East-West Road.

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Niger Delta warlord and former agitator, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, has urged his fellow agitators in the region to give peace a chance in the interim.

Tompolo made the plea in a statement he signed and made available to journalists on Friday following the uneasy calm enveloping the region over the delay in the inauguration of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as pledged by the federal government.

Recall that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio had, after an emergency parley with stakeholders before the expiration of Tompolo’s seven-day ultimatum, promised to inaugurate the board by the end of June which appears not to have seen the light of the day.

Pleading with his colleagues on Friday, Tompolo, in the statement titled: ‘Niger Delta Agitators’ Ultimatum to the Federal Government of Nigeria: A Call for Restraint,’ warned FG to do the needful before the bubble burst.

“June 2021 has come to an end. The people of the region are yet to see any tangible move towards the constitution of the NDDC board by the Federal Government.

“The people are seriously agitated. There is palpable fear and tension in the region.

“I wish to reiterate my earlier position that, the government should, as a matter of urgency, constitute the substantive board of the NDDC to avoid unnecessary bickering and crisis in the region,” he warned.

The Ibe-Ebidouwei of Ijaw Nation said after he had reluctantly accepted the outcome of the consultative meeting, “I have done so much to keep peace in the region which some major stakeholders in the security circle are aware of.”

He continued, “I have been in constant touch with my fellow agitators in the region to give peace a chance, knowing fully well that there cannot be any meaningful development in an atmosphere of rancour and acrimony.

“As it stands now, the one thing the government must do on this issue is to be courageous enough to constitute the NDDC board.

“Government must be sincere in handling developmental issues in the Niger Delta region as the people have suffered enough, being neglected for several decades.

“The truth of the matter is that there is so much bitterness in the land owing to the lackadaisical attitude of this government in handling matters of great importance to its citizens.

“As for my follow agitators, please permit me to borrow the biblical words of Jesus Christ, that we should be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove to continue our agitation for a better living for our people.

“We must avoid anything that may throw the only relatively peaceful region in the country now, into chaos because of government’s nonchalant attitude towards the security and welfare of its citizenry as constitutionally provided.

“The average Nigerian citizen is a government of his or her own as the citizens provide everything for themselves today.

“The government is unfair to a greater number of its citizens. The Nigerian Government must create an enabling environment for the citizens to live a prosperous and peaceful life.

“Multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region are not left out in the troubles of the region. They are clearly part of the conspiracy in the marginalization of the region.

“They must perform their statutory obligations to the people of the region by promptly delivering cooperate social responsibilities to the people.

“Most of the companies are operating under the cover of the Nigerian Military, which has further exacerbated the relationship between Multinationals and their host communities.

“They must do their business in a most friendly atmosphere, and not set neighbouring host communities against one another”, he concluded.

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Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Minister, Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, has assured the people of the Niger Delta Region that the out come of the Forensic Audit and implementation of its recommendation, which would herald the inauguration of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC), would gladden their hearts.

Speaking at the Radio Nigeria morning interview program; Politics Nationwide, on Tuesday, Akpabio said,” let me assure my people in the Niger Delta Region that when the report of the Forensic Audit is received by President Muhammadu Buhari, and the NDDC board inaugurated, with guidelines based on the recommendations of the Auditors, we would all be happy for it, because the Commission will become bankable and able to access international loan facilities for development purposes.”

He noted that the Niger Delta Region stands to benefit a lot from the outcome of the Audit because the Commission would be repositioned to be more productive, inorder to meet the yearning of the people of the region, saying” the NDDC after the Forensic Audit, would be more concerned with executing projects that would have direct economic benefits for the people, rather than embark on white elephant projects as was the practice in the past”.

On why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has not been involved in the Forensic Audit of the Commission, Akpabio said, ” the Audit has no criminal angle for now and that is why the anti graft agency has not been invited to investigate its activities. We have not established any criminality in the process. If at the end of the audit and something criminal is unearthed, then the anti graft body would be called in to help unravel who got what and who did what.”

On the emergence of Mr Effiong Akwa as the Interim Administrator of the NDDC, the former Senate Minority Leader said,” the emergence of Akwa was a product of the court and not an imposition as being claimed in some quarters. Some stakeholders in the region, went to court and prayed for the sack of the Interim Management Board. The court, in its wisdom, sacked the board ordered that the most senior director should take over the running of the Commission. Akwa, at that time, happened to be the most senior director as the Executive Director, who was not affected by the court ruling.”

He noted further that “contract award in the region was highly politicized with no consideration for the immediate needs of the people. Projects that had no direct positive impact on the economic life of the people were contracted out and later abandoned. The result is the countless number of abandoned projectes scattered all over the region. It became a matter of so much money in the region and nothing on ground to show for the huge budgetary allocation to the commission.”

He called on the Niger Delta Avengers to give room for dialogue between it and the government, saying,” the people of the region have all embraced Amnesty and dialogue in demanding for whatever affects them as a people, instead of confrontations. We need peace for development and that is the way to go.”

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Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, disclosed that the final report of forensic audit of  Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will be ready by the end of July.

Akpabio, while responding to questions from State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also informed that the final report would be submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for implementation.

It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in February 2020 approved the appointment of a lead consultant for the forensic audit of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

According to the minister, the action had been expedited on the process of constitution of the board of NDDC.

“We have fast tracked the process of constituting the board; but we insist that the most important thing is not just the development of the Niger Delta region but how to reposition NDDC to ensure optimal performance as against the practice in the past.

“So, the forensic audit of NDDC is on course and it is progressing very well and I am happy with the progress made so far.

“And I am very certain that by end of July which is just a month and a few weeks away that the final result will be given to the president for implementation.

“And in terms of the composition of the board of the NDDC, that of course, we have fast tracked the process and the National Assembly will soon get the list.

“But that is not as important as the forensic audit which we are finally given a deadline which is July, that it will end”, he said.

Speaking further, Akpabio expressed optimism that the new board would use the recommendations of forensic audit to work and reposition the commission.

The minister, also expressed his displeasure that, in the past, the headquarters of the commission was not connected to the national grid for 10 years to 15 years.

He continued, “And we have noticed the fact that even the headquarters building that was started over 20 years to 24 years ago, nobody was interested.

“I think they were pursuing projects that were probably beneficial to either the staff or the management and not necessarily things that benefited the region”.

Akpabio added that the East-West road was another major area of concentration which the NDDC itself should have taken interest in, saying that he worked on federal roads when he was the governor of Akwa Ibom State.

“And to the glory of God, the president has refunded the money that most of the states used in intervening in federal roads which means it was a good gesture and the president has reciprocated it by the fact that the monies were refunded to those states.

“So, I think, even NDDC should have intervened in East-West road to ensure its completion because of the economic importance of the road.

“Just three days ago, we had a mishap where one of the bridges had a problem; the approach to the bridge, it caused so much traffic jam in Port Harcourt for hours and we had to move in.

“To the glory of God, we have repaired the damaged section of the road and traffic is flowing and we are working very hard to make sure that we complete that road come next year for the benefit of the Nigerians not just Niger Delta,’’ he said.

He explained that his recent visit to the Niger-Delta region was not as result of pressure from any quarters but for the sake of peace in the region.

The former governor noted that the region is very critical to the economy of the country, explaining that he had interactive session with stakeholders in the region for purpose of the economy of Nigerian economy as the impact of any unrest in the region would affect the economy.

Akpabio noted that he had set the pace by his visit to the Niger Delta as his move was being emulated in dousing the agitations in the South-East.

“And I think the example I set is what is being emulated now in the South-East—that there is need for those of us in government to go back home and interact with people at the grassroots.

“And then, explain things to them; so that we can stop the restiveness that we are witnessing in many zones of the country.

“So, my going to creeks to meet the traditional rulers and ex-agitators was in the interest of not just the security of the region but the peace of the region.

“And by implication, to ensure that critical infrastructure that can affect the economy of the nation were not tampered with; I think it was a step in the right direction,’’ the minister concluded.

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Also, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State has threatened legal action against the purveyors of the news inorder to clear his name and that of the Attorney General from the malicious publication.

The position of the Minister was contained in a statement signed by his media aide, Anietie Ekong, and made available to newsmen.

The statement read, “the attention of the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has been drawn to a piece of fake news which claimed that Senator Akpabio paid $5 million bribe to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and others to secure the appointment of a Sole Administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“We wish to state categorically that  this is a piece of malicious concoction manufactured from the pit of hell by mischief -makers. It is a figment of the imagination of the author of the fake news. Senator Akpabio denies the story in its entirety. The authors of the fake news should be ready to back up their claim or face the full wrath of the law.

“The story is a desperate attempt by some unscrupulous bloggers to impugn the integrity of the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and the Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami as the claim is not only spurious but utterly ridiculous.

“The fact is that in a suit number ABJ/CS/617/2020 filed by a Civil Society Organization, Forum for Accountability and Good Governance, at a Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Ahmed Mohammed had granted an order restraining the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC from performing the functions of the board and accessing the Commission’s offices and files.

“The Order clearly listed the Managing Director Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, Acting Executive Director of Projects Dr Cairo Ojougboh, Mrs Caroline Nagboh and Cecilia Akintomide as those restrained. The Order also asked that “the most senior civil servant or administrator in the Commission be appointed” to take charge of the Commission.

“It was based on this order that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the elevation of the Acting Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Mr Effiong Akwa, being the most Senior Administrator to take over the headship of the NDDC as an Interim Administrator pending the completion of the Forensic Audit Exercise.

“It is therefore absurd for anyone to even imagine that the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio would bribe the Attorney General before an Order of the Court is complied with as the purveyors of the fake news have stated. The general public should discountenance this piece of trash.

‘It is obvious that some  persons who are scared of the ongoing forensic audit of the NDDC as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari are working tirelessly to scuttle the exercise by blackmailing the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.  Their modus operandi is to churn out fake news in a bid to stop Senator Akpabio from sanitizing the NDDC. Otherwise, how can a responsible news website make such a grievous allegation without any shred of evidence to back up its claim.

“However, we wish to state that no amount of sponsored fake news and blackmail would deter Senator Akpabio from doing the right thing as directed by Mr. President. The Minister has the overwhelming support of the impoverished masses of the Niger Delta who have borne the brunt of underdevelopment of the region over the years”, it concluded.

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Served a la carte, this scintillating thriller however came in the form of allegations. The allegations, let loose during an Arise TV interview programme last week in Abuja, affirmed the line from the play, The Morning Bride by English author of the 17th and early 18th centuries, William Congreve, that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Nunieh, summoned by the House of Representatives committee investigating alleged mismanagement of N40 billion by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC, turned into the proverbial canary and sang disgusting and indeed irritating rhythms of Nigeria’s age long affliction of looting in high places, oath-taking as weapon of drafting accomplices into corruption ring and sex as concave on the illicit-natured hearts of our political elite.

Bold, assertive and a lioness to the core, Nunieh seemed to be atop her game. In her narrative of the NDDC under her watch, she carefully slung manacles on Akpabio’s wrists. On the front burner of her allegations were sexual harassment, leading to her allegedly dealing the former Akwa-Ibom governor a dirty slap. “Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his Guest House at Apo? I am the only woman that slapped Akpabio.

He thought he could come up on me. He tried to harass me sexually. I slapped him. I am an Ogoni woman… I showed Akpabio that Rivers women do not tolerate nonsense,” she announced in a seeming conquest. Nunieh seems to know enough to drown Akpabio and constitute his nemesis.

Equally disgusting was Nunieh’s allegation that the minister attempted to inflate the NDDC budget and sneaked 30 contracts into it which included one on water hyacinth. “Akpabio wrote me to put a list of projects from the refugee commission in the budget of NDDC. Refugee commission is another federal government commission for IDPs. How do you tell me to put some of their projects in the NDDC budget when we have so many things to do in the Niger Delta? How do you explain that?” she ranted.

When Akpabio appeared on the Arise TV channel with his own tremor-like but vengeful ballistics, if you didn’t love the soiled apron worn for him by Nunieh, you would at least love his smart, cool operator mien. Armed with documents, he also immediately transmuted into a canary: Nunieh lacked requisite temperament for the office she occupied; she was not qualified ab initio to be in the office as she evaded the mandatory NYSC service. Like every cool operator, Akpabio however lapsed into the fallacy of abusive ad-hominem, an ancient fallacious argument which is also called argumentum ad hominem. Briskly but rudely, he veered into the realm of crooked thinking by suggesting that Nunieh’s “temperament” must have been due to her multiple betrothals.

Invite her four former husbands to give evidence of her temperament, Akpabio thundered. But, what had Nunieh’s alleged marital adventures got to do with allegations of rank corruption against the Honourable Minister? The pitfalls in this fallacious path of argument of Akpabio’s is that, though the speaker thinks they are deploying it as a rhetorical strategy by attacking the character, motive, or other attributes of their interlocutor, they are detracting from acceptable rules of engagement. Rather than attack the substance at issue, they sidetrack genuine debate and spin diversionary and irrelevant, even if extraneous issues. Ad-hominem could even be a cover-up for culpability.

But why did Nunieh throw the sex card in this tango? To my mind, this terribly disfigures and indeed, makes her case against Akpabio very wonky. Did she attempt to play the ex-World Bank President, Dominique Strauss-Kahn/New York maid sex card to curry sympathy to her side? This is because, like Akpabio’s multiple husband allegation, flaunting a yellow card of sexual harassment at that juncture was unnecessary and in fact makes her suspect. Was Arise TV a police station where sexual harassment allegations are lodged? How come that allegation had to rear its ugly head five long months after Akpabio sacked Nunieh in February, 2020?

With this, Nunieh looked no less culpable of spinning a diversionary ad-hominem alien and irrelevant to her submission. This is because, as gripping as her highly believable revelations are and perfectly fitting into the profiling of the voracious Nigerian political elite who mindlessly devour Nigeria like an army of cankerworm, the fact that her fury led her into making such allegation which sounded like sympathy-currying for her perceived weak female gender, makes her potentially suspect.

Or could she simply be seeking to make herself the sultry woman the French call the femme fatale, the destructive female? Or just trying to situate Akpabio in the mould of powerful men in history who turned gourmands of female nakedness and saw her flesh as ravishing icing on the cake of power?

A historical excursion into the psychology of power and powerful people, what excites them, why they veer into the accursed path of weaponizing sex as a major constituent of power and why they sometimes are very careless, unconscionable and reckless when a gush of blood momentarily rushes into their groins may explain what Nunieh had in mind. For all you care however, citing alleged sexual harassment might probably be a way of padding her submission that Akpabio was not just your random crook next door but one whose libido had no discretion.

Bill Clinton appears to be an archetype of the philandering powerful man in office. Referred to as “a hard dog to keep on the porch” by his wife Hillary, his dalliances in the White House as President of America nearly got him to kiss the American presidency bye. While Paula Jones accused him of publicly warehousing his erect manhood in front of her while they were in a hotel room, his “inappropriate” relationship with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, remains a great example of indiscretion in high places.

So also was François Mitterrand, French president, 1981 to 1995, who kept the secret of a mistress and child out of wedlock from the press for the period of his 14-year stay in office. This is not to talk of his successor, Jacques Chirac whose wife, Bernadette, described as a grief in the heart on account of his obsessive thirst for the midriff of the female gender. Or Chirac’s own successor, François Hollande who, in disguise, took trips out of the Elysee Palace at nocturnes to visit a mistress in a flat in the city. However, one case that shows this sex-as-icing-on-cake-of-power path as ruinous was that of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who not only lost his job but the prospect of becoming the French president, on account of a New York hotel maid’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her.

Akpabio however threw his own riposte. Watching him on that Arise TV programme, you would be pardoned perceiving him as guiltless of Nunieh’s allegations against him. Also, you most probably would get no recrimination if his suavity makes you conclude that he was just a typical Smart Alec, an able representative of the smooth crook class that Nigerian politicians really are. Akpabio appeared on that programme, borrowing the lingo of the streets, as cool as cucumber. Fluid and effortlessly piercing darts at Nunieh to do the expected damage, he methodically deployed his gift of the garb to an advantage.

After leaving the TV programme, he must have won to his side many of his erstwhile accusers. Even when we know that this is not likely to be so, Akpabio escaped with the impression of a reformer who always gets diatribes and recriminations from a rank system like Nigeria’s sworn to a romance with sewage. Did you notice the Honourable Minister periodically massaging the ego of the President in each of his sentences… the “GCFR” affixes each time he mentioned Buhari’s name, the Buhari anti-corruption advertisement that sounded like the refrain of a badly sung hymn? You have to be master of the game to flaunt such art of suavity.

Both Akpabio and Nunieh can however not escape from the grave charge that, in the last 20 years, they are part of the Niger Delta elite who mindless underdeveloped the Niger Delta. No one would again listen to those Ken Saro-Wiwa-like agitationist narratives that Nigeria kept the Niger Delta down. Yes, for decades, the Niger Delta was a geographical enclave that fed the gluttony of Nigeria’s political elite, but yet confronted with polluted rivers and gross underdevelopment.

However, from the days of OMPADEC, down to its transmuting into the NDDC, Nigeria had funneled trillions of Naira into the Niger Delta and such humongous funds have been trapped in the gluttonous private pockets of Niger Delta elite and their accomplices. Massive and endemic corruption has made the world develop sparse patience to listen to an apparent boring narrative of the Nigerian elite impoverishing the Niger Delta. Worse still is that appointees into the NDDC are square pegs in round holes. If you squeeze these ills into a ball, it will appear now that, until the people of the Delta begin to pelt their sons and daughters with stones for how they worsen their already sorry plights, the world may be impatient to hear their cries of woes.

The massive rot in the NDDC in the last 20 years is as brackish as the polluted rivers of the Niger Delta. This is why the news that the Muhammadu Buhari government had commissioned a forensic probe of activities in the NDDC, from 2001 till date, should ordinarily be gladsome. As an aside, this audit is needed in the NNPC, another Nigerian fetid basket of maggots, as well. However, when one realizes that this same government has been implicated severally for its timid will to purge the system of leeches and offering self as a nest for corrupt but favoured government officials and accomplices, the initial excitement of the probe would fizzle out.

By the close of last week, the melee threw up another pointer that Nigeria is running a banana republic, a pejorative description of mindless lawlessness and dictatorship. A few days after the Arise TV spat, over a dozen stern-looking security personnel reportedly stormed Nunieh’s Port-Harcourt home at about 4am. They were even alleged to have forcefully broken into the house like armed robbers. Amidst the back and forth, Rivers’ gruffy countenance, gruff-voice governor, Nyesom Wike, stormed Nunieh’s home, spirited her inside his official car and drove her away like some movie mafia Capone. As he drove off, he thundered, “impunity cannot be allowed to stand. Not in Rivers State. We are ready to fight for justice.”
The police invasion was reminiscent of Buhari’s 1984 military dictatorship, replicated in the 2016 nocturnal invasion unleashed on judges’ quarters, with a view to demonizing them as corrupt.

Wike equally deployed his gruff to the rescue as he prevented SSS operatives from arresting them. So, why are we advertising dual lawlessness like this, that of Wike and the federal goons? And why would the authors of this daybreak invasion target Nunieh for arrest on a day she was to give evidence before the House probe committee? What offence had she committed between the time of her first appearance at the committee and time of her attempted arrest? If the offence was before her appearance at the panel, how come it became so urgent as to warrant a breaking into her house?

In saner societies, Akpabio ought to have been asked to step aside as minister to pave way for an unbiased investigation. But, has that ever happened in Nigeria?

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It will be recalled that on January 30, 2020, a civil society organization, “Anti-Corruption and Accountability Coalition Against Corruption fired a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari accusing the then Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Ms Joi Nunieh of certificate forgery.

The organization’s petition read, “Your Excellency Sir, it is now a clear fact that Joi Nunieh did not participate in the mandatory one year national youth service, as we have gathered from reliable sources that she has been parading forged credentials including her NYSC discharged certificate hence she failed to produce same, rather running to bribe her way through to shield her from security operatives.

“Your Excellency Sir, we know that you are a man of integrity and by virtue of direct, we wish to state in clear terms that Joi Nunieh is not worthy of your appointment of any kind as she lacks the moral and legal locus to do so. In view of the above, we urge you to withdraw the aforesaid appointment of Joi Nunieh and relieve her of her duty due to forgery as Managing Director of NDDC for the interest of the Niger Delta people and society at large”.

It was reliably gathered that it was based on this that President Buhari ordered an investigation by Security Agencies into the allegation of certificate forgery by Ms Nunieh. And what they found out was startling.

Also, it was revealed that to cover up her track, Ms Nunieh had gone to Nigerian Law School Police Station to obtain a Police extract about loss of her documents to enable her to go to any court of law and swear to an affidavit. According to the affidavit which she had sworn to, “Upon the death of my sister Bar. Mrs. Ledee Ndorbu- Ebenezer who died on the 19th April, 2002 at her residence at doctor’s Qtrs Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

“Her husband Dr Zacheus Ndorbu Ebenezer refused to grant me access to her safe and refused to hand over all my Educational documents including my call to bar certificate, NYSC call up letter and certificates, University Certificates and other valid documents which were in custody of my late sister Bar. Mrs. Ledee Ndorbu-Ebenezer and effort made to recover documents listed above proved abortive till this day.”

A letter from the Council of Legal Education claimed that Ms Nunieh was mobilized for the National Youth service Corps programme for 1989/1990 service year. However, a letter by the National Youth Service Corps signed by Okonofua, K. N (Mrs) Director of Corps Certification for the Director General stated, “However, no record exists either in NYSC Kwara State or NYSC National Directorate Headquarters to evidence her participation in the Scheme.” In essence Ms Nunieh had all along been parading forged and fake NYSC call up letter and discharge certificate as she claimed in her affidavit.

It was also revealed that upon her appointment as the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC whenever the issue of her certificates came up she became evasive and attempted to bribe security agents who carried out the investigations. However, when the report got to President Buhari that she was parading forged certificates, she was immediately relieved of her appointment.
Ever since she was sacked, as gathered, Ms Nunieh has become very frustrated and in a typical “I-will-not-go-down-alone” syndrome has been making wild and unsubstantiated allegations those she perceived may have been responsible for her downfall.

The post Sacked NDDC MD, Joi Nunieh Goes Berserk After Being Caught In The Web Of Certificate Forgery first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Sacked NDDC MD, Joi Nunieh Goes Berserk After Being Caught In The Web Of Certificate Forgery appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.