LAGOS SEPTEMBER 5TH (URHOBOTODAY)- Transport Minister, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has been linked with series of orchestrated media attacks on the new board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, sources familiar with the scheme told pointblanknews.com.
President Mohammadu Buhari had recently sacked the Prof. Nelson Briambraifa led board and swiftly replaced them with Pius Odubu as Chairman and Bernard Okumagba as managing Director.
Irked by the replacement, Amaechi who is the godfather of most of the sacked Senior management team, allegedly started mobilizing state Governors from the region to kick against the new appointment.
He also allegedly mobilized some stake holders in the region to write opinion articles, appear on television shows, to attack the sacking of his lackey former NDDC board.
The scheme was seen as a desperate bid to cover up the allegations of massive and high-wire multi-billion naira corruption that characterized the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) during the interim administration of the immediate past acting managing
director of the NDDC, Prof Nelson Braimbraifa with Chris Amadi (Executive Director, Finance and Administration) and Samuel Adjogbe(Executive Director, Projects).
Sources told pointblanknews.com that Amaechi’s anger stem from his losing out from the NDDC and the N30billion recently released to the agency by the Federal Government which he had hoped some of his front companies would have benefitted in the form of contract awards.
High-level presidency sources confided in The New Diplomat yesterday that the presidency is currently monitoring the “actions and activities of a Minister from the Niger Delta region who is unhappy that he has lost out in the political chess game in the Niger Delta after he failed
repeatedly to deliver even a single LGA in his home State, is allegedly sponsoring petitions and court cases against the newly named nominees of Mr. President to the NDDC Board.”
Miffed by this development coupled with allegations of massive looting in the NDDC by the immediate past management, the Presidency it was gathered, would soon commence a thorough investigations into dozens of petitions against the trio of Braimbraifa, Adjogbe and Amadi.
“The Presidency has all dossiers of emergency contracts scams which they plotted and used to siphon several billions of naira into private pockets. Who was awarded the dubious emergency construction contract of 11|33kv Injection substation and distribution of electricity within Ikwerre (Prestine Lakes Estates) Lot 3) in Ikwerre LGA Rivers State for over Nine hundred million naira (N 999, 769, 569.75) and what is the status? Who was awarded another emergency dubious contract duplication of another emergency construction of 11\33KV injection Sub-station and Distribution of Electricity within Ikwerre (Prestine Lakes Estates) Lot
1) in Ikwerre LGA, Rivers State for the sum of N998,148, 855.90? –About I billion naira! What is its status?”
Said an insider who said he has forwarded several documents to key federal agencies for investigations.
Additional Reports From The New Diplomat