By EBIRERI HENRY OVIE

A legal practitioner, Mr. Ojeh Godwin, has lamented what he called flagrant abuse of statutory procedure and due process, calling for an urgent investigation of the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“It is disheartening that the leadership of the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which was supposedly set up to restore sanity and rescue the body, has taken over the same acts of corruption and fraudulent transactions with which the erstwhile leadership of the Commission were alleged.

“The Interim Management Committee which came on board and confidently accused the past leadership of the NDDC of lackluster performance, abandoned projects, poor project delivery and so on is now enmeshed in acts of pervasive corruption, blatant illegality, flagrant abuse of power and flagrant abuse of statutory procedure and due process,” Godwin lamented.

He particularly accused the former Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Gbene Dr Joi Nunieh, of throwing caution to the winds.

His words: “It is saddening that Dr Nunieh, Ag EDP of the IMC of the Commission, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, the Ag. EDFA, Mr. Ibanga Bassey and other members of the IMC who are to oversee the forensic audit of the NDDC as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari have done nothing but to betray the trust reposed in them.

“Rather than stemming or exposing the corruption they had accused their predecessors of, they had thrown caution to the winds and don the toga of corruption to perpetrate fraudulent acts and abuse of laid down statutory procedure under the NDDC Act and Public Procurement Act. The so much acclaimed contract verification Committee led then by Dr. Nunieh, Dr. Ojougboh, Mr. Bassey and other members of the Management team approved the sums of money to the tune of over N4billion on spurious contracts in the name of supplying‘Maternity Delivery Kits’, ‘Cholera Vaccines’, ‘Lassa Fever Kits’ and ‘Outstanding Science Equipment’.”

In a petition to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, and others, the Benin-based lawyer accused Nunieh of dispensing fund not captured under any budgetary allocation/appropriation.

According to him, “It is pertinent to state at the outset that Dr Nunieh, Dr Ojougboh, Mr. Ibanga and other members of the Management Team unilaterally approved huge sums of payments without any prior budgetary appropriation. This is reflected in the Memo dated January 17, 2020 where they directed the approval and also directed that the Summarised Information on the Health and Education Projects listed in a Memo dated December 3, 2019 and January 10, 2020 be treated for payment. They did this despite the fact that the Memo dated January 17, 2020 clearly stated that ‘the programmes have already been awarded and supplied’, and that ‘some of the items have already been distributed’.

“In fact, they overruled the professional advice of a top official (the DPRS) of the NDDC, who stated on the Memo that ‘the request is for inclusion in 2020 budget and not for payment’. This singular act of theirs was in direct conflict with the provisions of section 16(1) (b) of the Public Procurement Act.”

The petitioner specifically complained about the activities of “Gbene Dr Joi Nunieh, the former acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, the acting Executive Director (Projects) interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Ibanga Bassey, the acting Executive Director (Finance and Administration) interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission and other management members of the interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission.”

Godwin accused them of fraudulent misappropriation of public funds, contract splitting, payment of money for non-existing contract, unauthorised payment beyond official capacity.

The petitioner alleged that the Interim Management of the Niger Delta Commission had carried out several surreptitious and selective payments on nonexistence emergency contracts which are in direct conflict with and antithetical to the campaign against corrupt practices in public offices by the government of President Buhari.

He expressed displeasure over the activities of the Interim Management Committee, adding that “rather than follow due process statutorily laid down under the enabling law, the Interim Management Committee led by Dr Nunieh, Dr Ojougboh and Mr. Bassey simply raised an Internal Memo in which it gave summary of contract awards and their various stages including the names of the beneficiaries, companies and the contract sum.”

Ojeh Godwin said the actions of Dr Nunieh in making payments for non-existing contract were tantamount to fraud in the public service.

He alleged that the Interim Management Committee in many instances paid sums of money beyond the bench mark of its official capacity.

“The Interim Management Committee under the leadership of Gbene Dr Joi Nunieh, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh and Mr. Ibanga Bassey in many instances had paid sums of money beyond the benchmark of its official capacity.

“As a concerned Nigerian and indigene of the Niger Delta Area, I humbly bring the above detailed infraction of the laws to your attention and urge you to use your good offices to investigate this complaint/petition,” he added.