A coalition of civil society groups has opened a can of worms on the involvement of two ranking legislators from the South-South geo-political zone in alleged contract scams, in connivance with the management of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The coalition therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order anti-corruption agencies to probe the activities of the NDDC and all contracts awarded by the commission in the past five years or more.
The organization stated.67 contracts were given to the legislators within a space of two years while the money released were in billions.
The President of the coalition, Mr. Bassey Etuk, who spoke at a press briefing on Friday in Abuja, and the secretary, Abubakar Ahmed, in detailed documents given to newsmen, expressed shock that people making laws could soil their hands in criminal activities.
But when contacted, the Public Affairs Manager of NDDC, Mr. Abosede Ibitoye, stated the allegations were tissues of lies because the commission has put in place some checks and balances to avoid a situation in which there would be executed contracts for which money has been paid.
Etuk stated their findings revealed that the NDDC was riddled with different facets of corrupt practices, ranging from outrageous inflation of contracts, contracts splitting to non-execution of contracts for which payments had either been fully paid or substantial percentage of the contracts sums released.
As stated by him, in the spirit of the anti-corruption stance of President Muhammadu Buhari, there was the need for anti-graft agencies to step in and investigate the alleged multi-billion naira fraud in the agency.
He said, “As we all know, the country is in a thorough renaissance in the light and spirit of the anti-corruption wind that is blowing across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It is in the same spirit of the anti-corruption campaign that we are bent to unravel the corruption misery in the NDDC, in collaboration with some criminally minded legislators in the National Assembly.
“Our findings revealed that the commission is riddled with different facts of corrupt practices ranging from outrageous inflated contracts, contracts splitting, non-expectation of contracts for which payments have either been fully paid or substantial percentage of the contracts sums released.”