The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has accused members of the National Assembly of being the greatest beneficiaries of majority of the NDDC contracts.
When asked if the NDDC should be closed down, he said he’s not against it, but that it shouldn’t be closed down because of the audit, stating that however the awmakers are the ones benefitting more from NDDC.
When asked to explain what he meant, he said, ”Just look at your Chairman (Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo), I have records to show that most of the NDDC contracts are given out to National Assembly members. The two chairmen of both committees can explain to you.”
He was however stopped from speaking further by the lawmakers.
Earlier on, protesters stormed the main entrance of the National Assembly, NASS, Abuja ahead of the commencement of the ongoing probe into the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC by the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC.
The protesters were in two groups and armed with various placards.
While the group supporting the National Assembly probe is Emerging Leaders Forum of Nigeria, the group backing the NDDC and Akpabio against the probe is Niger Delta Development Initiative (NDDI). Security personnel were able to separate the two groups before the faceoff could get out of hand.
