Following the resolutions of the senate, the Niger Delta Development and Accountability Coalition, Monday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, act and take decision against the indicted members of the Interim Management Committee, IMC, of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Disclosing this in a statement sent to Vanguard by Comrade Johnson Epia, the groups National Chairman, the group told Buhari that Nigerians are slightly losing faith in his anti-corruption fight.

Read the full statement below:

“The Niger Delta Development and Accountability Coalition, Monday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to act and make decision against the Interim Management Committee, IMC, of the Niger Delta Development Commission found guilty by the joint committees of the National Assembly.

“Based on the revelations of massive fraud, financial recklessness and mismanagement at the NDDC by the Interim Management Committee, IMC, the National Assembly (NASS) set up Committees to probe the allegations that billions of naira have been fleeced by the IMC, without following due process.

“What came out of the investigations by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees showed clearly that the IMC has been presiding over a criminal enterprise.

“Following the submission of a 122-page report on the investigation by its Adhoc Committee, the Senate adopted the report, including wide-ranging recommendations, which indicted the IMC and demanded that the members refund N4.923 billion naira, demanded the dissolution of the IMC, and the Inauguration of the governing board to run the Commission in compliance with the NDDC Act, among others.

“What baffles Nigerians is that despite the confessions of the IMC at the Public Hearing to mismanaging the NDDC finances, the Senate indictment of the IMC and other Senate resolutions on the NDDC investigation, the president has done nothing with respect to the Senate Resolutions and to distance his administration from the criminal enterprise at the NDDC.

“This inaction by the Buhari administration has forced some NGOs to submit a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the prosecution of IMC members, what it ordinarily should do without prompting.

“This position by the NGOs became necessary because of the perception that the federal government seems to be silence to the humongous corruption, Financial recklessness and mismanagement orchestrated by IMC in the last few months.

“Indeed, it appears that the Buhari administration is looking for any excuse to sweep the Senate Report and Resolutions under the carpet. Else, why has the Buhari administration not acted on the IMC Corruption at the NDDC?

“At the presentation of their case before the EFCC, the Civil Society activists, led by Deji Adeyanju and Omoyele Sowore, alluded to this strange inability of the federal administration to call IMC to order.

“This is dangerous because it means we now run a country where anyone, even a criminal, can get themselves to the Commanding heights of Government and dictate the course of the administration away from what is moral, responsible and ethical.

“Sowore alluded to reports, at the presentation of the petition to the EFCC, that a minister paid N6bn for the ministerial slot. This is not the first time this allegation has been made, as it is well known in Niger Delta circles because of the boast of the Minister and his cronies that he cannot be called to order in the Buhari administration.

READ ALSO: NDDC writes Senate member, gives him 2 wks to refund N2.552 billion

“This is disheartening, that the administration will compromise good Governance for Corruption. According to Sowore: “There is a fundamental problem with how we headhunt our officials. If someone pays N6 billion to become a minister, what do you expect him to do? He will go right to the job of recouping his investment. But it also shows that the Anti-Corruption fight in the country is just a joke.

“The EFCC has completely been muzzled and demobilised as well, that’s why they need somebody to bring a petition to investigate public sector corruption that has been investigated by the National Assembly and indictments made. You can’t get the EFCC to do anything, they are waiting for a petition, when in fact there is an NFIU that ought to have tracked all expenditures, flagged it and picked up the people involved; by now we should be talking of prosecutions.”

“It is sad that the EFCC and the anti-graft agencies now become bodies that cannot act independently, else why does it need a petition on the NDDC before swinging into action, as Sowore and Deji Adeyanju rightly point out? Adeyanju said: “the EFCC is statutorily under obligation to investigate these crimes but they’ve crippled our agencies and they now look so helpless and powerless. One thing we told them is that they didn’t need us to write a petition because the crime is obvious.”

“President Buhari cannot allow this crime by the IMC to continue unpunished. It makes a joke of his Anti-Corruption posture, aside the fact that their actions have brought more shame to the country. Indeed, as Adeyanju said, the Corruption by the IMC since it was set up, “is a big embarrassment to the country. It is going to affect the Anti-Corruption index of the country.”

“The Senate Resolution on the NDDC IMC was based on its Committee’s investigation which found out that the IMC led by Acting Managing Director Prof Daniel Keme Pondei and Acting Executive Director Projects Dr Cairo Ojugboh paid itself billions of naira in special bonuses, which it tagged covid-19 allowances, in addition to collecting hundreds of millions of naira for project inspection, maintenance allowances and billions more in fictitious contracts.

“The statement by Pondei at the Public Hearing that they had to help themselves to the bonuses further infuriated millions of Nigerians who revolted at the unconscionable greed and avarice of the IMC.

“Nigerians are shocked that the IMC has not been sacked and the officials sanctioned for the criminal mismanagement of the NDDC.

“President Buhari cannot afford to remain silent in the face of the ongoing scam at the NDDC, and the Senate Resolutions.

“He must do his duty to Nigerians and lead when he has to, which is now. Mr President must define very clearly if his legacy will be one of comfort with, not contempt for, Corruption. He cannot sit by the side and allow Corruption to thrive in our country, while his officials steal public resources.

“The President must demand the refund of all stolen funds, the sack of the IMC, all those indicted by the Senate in the looting of the NDDC under the IMC.

“He should bring accountability to the NDDC by implementing the Senate resolutions. Niger Deltans and indeed Nigerians are sick and tired of the current lethargy where Corruption seems to be the order of the day for the Administration, which has made Nigerians the laughing stock all over the world. President Buhari must not overlook the Corruption going on at the NDDC, the buck stops on his desk!”

Vanguard