The Nigerian government on Friday denied the dissolution of the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
“NDDC: A fabricated statement on the dissolution of the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), attributed to presidential Spokesmen, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, is making the rounds on various social media platforms,” the spokesmen twitted on @VillaUpdatesng.
“The statement is FAKE and not from the Presidency. Kindly disregard it,” it added.
The Senate on Thursday had called on President Muhammadu Buhari to scrap the IMC of the NDDC and appoint a substantive board for the commission. The call followed revelations of financial recklessness at the commission, which came to light during separate investigative hearings at both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate also ordered the IMC to refund various amounts totaling about N4.923 billion being payments made by the current leadership of the commission. The amount was spent between March and May this year.
The amount is made up of payments made for Overseas Travel to the United Kingdom N85.7million, Scholarship grants N105.5 million, and Union Members’ trip to Italy N164.2 million. It also includes N1.96 billion paid for Lassa Fever Kit, N1.12 billion paid for Public Communication, and N1.49 billion allegedly spent on COVID-19.
