NDDC N81.5 bn forensic Audit Report missing: FG

The federal government on Tuesday declared the

forensic Audit Report on N81.5 bn expenditure of Niger Delta Development Ministry missing, raising fresh concerns about President Bola Tinubu led-government will in tackling corruption.

The fund involving the then Minister of Niger Delta, now Senate President Godswill Akpabio, appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta, was appropriated to the Niger Delta Development Commission between January and July 2020.

Minister of Niger Delta Development, Abubakar Momoh said this when he appeared on Channels Television morning brief where he reeled out some of the achievements the Ministry has recorded since his appointment 14 months ago.

Momoh said, “As far as NDDC Audit Report is concern, that Audit Report was released to government long before we came to office. And we have been asking for the Report in order to implement some of the recommendations that were stated there.

But, that Report is still not with us. We have asked for it. We have not been able to trace that Report. And I have also reported to the higher level that we can’t find that Report.

“I guess people who wee in the administration before us will be in a better position to explain it. We can’t find that Report.

“I expected that when I took over the Report will be found in the Ministry. But, I asked both the Permanent Secretary and those that were there. And they claimed that they have been asking for the Report and that they have not been able to see it”, Mr Momoh alleged.

But he stated that the Ministry under his watch has started implementing some of the highlight of the forensic Audit Report.

The Minister said, “some of the decisions that have been taken in that Report are being gradually implemented today even without the Report. I will agree with you to some extent that before we came in, NDDC was a cesspool of corruption”, Momoh lamented.

TheNewspad recalls that corruption scandal rocked the Ministry when acting MD, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, fainted during the interrogation.

Similarly, interrogation led to the phrase “honorable minister (Akpabio) off your microphone,” which has since gained popularity in the Country, according to multiple reports.