24/07/2020
AKPABIO, IMC, ALLEGED MISSING #40 BILLION & LEGISLATIVE PERSECUTION
For many months. the news of an alleged loss of NGN 40 billion, belonging to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), under the care of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) resonated across the nooks and crannies of the country as an anthem with both Houses of the National Assembly insisting that it falls within their oversight purviews to probe and unravel the loss. Committees of NDDC in the both Houses did not only show preparedness to get to the bottom of the matter, they conferred such trepidation on the planned exercise that the fear that whosoever appeared, would be scathed, sullied and decapitated politically, especially if such a person is a political appointee. And so the world waited with bated breath for the exercise to kickstart oblivious of the persecution complex that undergirded the call.
The public inquiry finally happened with the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. taking its turn first. The objective was well charted- to probe any financial malfeasance, as it pertains to the alleged loss of NGN 40 billion. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who heads the supervising Ministry of NDDC, indulged appearance. The mood was cordial as he explained that the allegation of missing NGN 40 billion was unfounded and a ruse, contrived by people who are against the ongoing forensic audit. The Minister appealed to the Senators cooperate with IMC and support the forensic audit to help rid NDDC of the putrefying rot that afflicts it as well as reposition the commission for such development leap that would turn around the Niger Delta and make the region the Eldorado envisaged by those who founded the Agency. The interraction ended on a note of cordiality.
But the meeting with the House Committee on NDDC lacked the same lustre of cordiality with that of the Senate Committee.
Before the day of what was supposed to be a fact finding interaction, there were a surfeit of social media trials, indicting the Minister, the IMC and alleging misappropriation of various sums. The widespread allegations which many think may have emanated from fifth columnists within the Committee and their agents set the tone for what was to be a belligerent and combative interaction.
The event which took place in the Conference Hall of the House of Representatives, had all the ominous signs of an impending combat. Even with the huge crowd that thronged the hall, the air conditioner and fans did not work to reduce the heat that was ripping through the hall and creating palpable discomfort for the attendees. As the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila alluded in his apology to the invitees, the condition of the hall was cruel to precipitate a fainting feat. Of course what happened in the hall with the Acting Managing Director, is not a tale to retell.
What pointed more to the planned persecution of the Minister and the IMC, was the ease with which the committee members veered off tangent from the allegedly missing NGN 40b to matters like the ursurpation of role of the MD of NDDC by the Minister, alleged non-budgetary expenditure, non compliance with procedure in the clearance of contract with the Bureau of Public Procurement, the face-off between the Minister and the erstwhile Acting Managing Director and other sundry inanities that had no bearing with the alleged loss of NGN 40b. Strangely, no question was raised about the missing sum in reference. It appeared as if the Committee was prospecting for any possible way to weaken the minister's supervisory role so that things could return to status-quo ante.
The House Committee members therefore seem to view the Minister and the IMC as quarries that must be decimated by force and by all means. It was why they turned what was designed to be a fact finding interaction into a combative inquisition, forcefully pigeonholing their preys, to deliver incriminating YES or NO answers akin to the devil's alternative of either way, men die. There was a patent manifestation of such high handedness that the Minister had to raise concern that he was being bullied by Committee members. The Minister was grilled for more than two hours with more than 22 hostile questions hurled at him. Well he navigated the labyrinth of their adversarial questions which were actually traps, delivering frank, salient and logical answers as a lawyer that he is. But many of them who refused to accept the unassailable answers, sneered at the responses because they did not offer them a window for their planned humiliation of the Minister.
The strenuous effort by the Committee to indict Akpabio, in the COVID-19 palliative contract and payment to the LEAD FORENSIC AUDITORS failed woefully as the Minister provided argument that showed substantial compliance to procedure. Predicating their claims on the argument that the said contract did not have the approval of the Bureau of Public Procurement despite the minister's explanation showed an inclination on the part of the members to yield more to sensation than substance and reason. Akpabio had explained convincingly the arising exigencies stating that no violation was committed but the members deliberately refused to allow facts to interfere with the conclusion contained in their premeditated script.
The planned persecutory script is further seen in the contradictory views of the Acting Chairman of the committee, Rt. (Hon.) Thomas Ereyitomi. In his closing remarks after Senator Akpabio's presentation, he said, "I want to thank you, Honourable Minister for finding time to come here today to shed light on the documents you have presented to this committee. You have done very well, you have been here since morning. I think you will agree with us that at end of this presentation, that the committee is not here to probe anybody, it is more or less an interactive session also to give opportunity and for us to hear your part of the story. It is fair hearing and we pray as you leave here, the good direction you intend to give NDDC, you will continue to do it, for the interest of Nigeria and particularly the people of the Niger Delta who we are here to serve. On that note, I want to thank you for finding time to be here, and may God bless you and your team as you go back to your various offices".
This same Ereyitomi obviously yielding to pressure from his colleagues, who may have felt that Akpabio bruised their ego during his presentation, while addressing journalists outside the premises of the National Assembly said, "Akpabio lied to us; refused to sign the oath because he knows he was lying . . ." Of course Akpabio was captured on camera, as he took the Oath. There may be a case of oversight, if he did not sign the oath form, but the camera recorded him in that act. As it is often said, pictures don't lie. What affirmation is stronger than such visual evidence. Describing him with such outlandish invective as liar is beneath the chairman and reflects his inability to put his emotions in check.
The current arm twisting of the Minister by the House of Representatives appears teleguided. The National Assembly is a critical component and bastion of our democracy. Its first love must be the progress of our Nation and not witch hunting. The National Assembly must not allow any external influence to railroad her into any action that would be inimical to our collective well being. The House Committee should rise above common fray, do its work with diligence and only allow the best interest of the Nation to direct and define its actions.
Joe Iniodu is a public affairs analyst.
