Appearing before a Senate Ad-hoc committee on Thursday, the  Acting Executive Director, Projects, Interim Management Committee, IMC, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, shocked senators when he dismissed allegation of missing N40 billion from the coffers of the NDDC.

He was responding to allegation of missing or misapplied N40 billion being investigated by the committee.

Speaking before the Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (APC, Ekiti North) led Ad-hoc Committee, Ojougboh said that since the IMC became active, it has not awarded any contract, except the one on COVID-19  pandemic in which palliatives were given to Niger Delta people.

Ojougboh frontally accused both the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi and his House of Representatives counterpart as the problem of the NDDC, stressing that the duo had bastardised the budget of the Commission.

Ojougboh who spoke with boldness said the problem of the NDDC is the meddlesomeness of the duo who have continued to intrude into the activities of the commission leaving their parliamentary duties.According to him, if they remain as chairmen of the Committees, Niger Delta region will never develop.

In his presentation, the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris,  told the Ad- hoc Committee that a total of N281 billion has so far been released to the NDDC from 2016 to May this year.

He said that in 2016, N41billion was released; in 2017, N64 billion was released; in 2018, a total of N71 billion was released; in 2019, N71 billion was released and from January to May this year, N34 billion was released.

The Committee was asked to scrutinise all procurements and financial transactions of the commission in this fiscal year (2020) and any other matter that is not in accordance with the provision of the NDDC Establishment Act, 2000 or any other extant law. It will report back to plenary in four weeks.