By AHMED MUSA, Abuja

A Civil Society and anti corruption group, Act for Positive Transformation Initiative, has said that it has uncovered additional N35 billion which may have been syphoned by the Interim Management Committee(IMC), of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

This according to the group, is against the N40 billion it ealier said was missing through some alleged illegal payments, just as it called on the National Assembly to focus its impending probe on finding out the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of N75 billion.

Mr. Kolawole Johnson, Head, Directorate of Research, Strategy and Programmes of the anti corruption group stated this a media briefing on Sunday, where he said the whole outcry about Covid-19 and the shutting down of the NDDC was a gimmick and a ploy to enable the IMC siphon funds meant to better the lives of Nigerians in the Niger Delta region through the Commission.

“Gentlemen of the Press, Let me attempt to paraphrase a salient quote from Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th POTUS. ‘Patriotism means to stand by your country, not to stand with any public official, save to the degree in which the official stands by the country’.

“For us as civil society organizations, it is unpatriotic not to oppose public officials when they fail in their duties to the country. It is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, especially as it touches corruption, mis-governance and open rape of people’s trust.”

“The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been in focus since April, obviously for the wrong reasons. The audacity for looting and dark tendencies has surged uncontrollably in recent days. This worrisome development calls for serious interrogation, investigation and immediate action.”

“The late Executive Director of Finance & Administration died in the early hours of Thursday, May 28th, 2020. Very early in the day, our organization, Act for Positive Transformation Initiative, had intercepted a sinister ploy to weave the unfortunate death around COVID-19.” (Sunday Independent)