Fresh crisis may be brewing at the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, over the failure of its new interim administrator to account for a whooping N111,621,716,618.4, which accrued to the commission in the last four months.
This is even as stakeholders have expressed fears that, the NDDC may not be able to pay April salaries, owing to it’s very lean balance in it’s accounts, which stood at N394,225,271.02, as at April 26th, 2021.
Records obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, indicate that, the NDDC received N73,459,210,640.42 through one of it’s two accounts, (account number with held by Newsdiaryonline), domiciled with the CBN, and another, N38,054,241,559.60 through account number (Account number withheld), still at the CBN.
The records also indicate that, while the balance in the first account stood at N108,264,418.38 , the second one has N285,960,862.74, as at April, 25th, 2021.
With a monthly wage bill of N1.2billion, the NDDC requires over N700 million additional to meet its salary requirement for the month of April.
As it is, there is palpable apprehension amongst staff, and stakeholders, including the state Governors of the possible failure of the commission to meet its core mandate, even as there are indicators of possible bankruptcy unless something is done.
It may be recalled that Governors in the region had earlier advised that an embargo be placed on spendings at the NDDC, pending the inauguration of a proper board, but that seems to have been ignored.
As it is, accusing fingers are being pointed at the minister of the Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for allegedly cajoling the interim administrator to embark on invisible spendings, leading to the present quagmire.
Some stakeholders who spoke to our correspondent on conditions of anonymity, alleged that, notwithstanding the denials by the minister, he has been wooing officers of investigative agencies, to forestall possible probes into the finances of the NDDC.
Our correspondent reports that, attempts to speak with the Interim Administrator of the NDDC, Mr Effiong Akwa were unsuccessful.
A director who is a signatory to the NDDC accounts, reportedly said he is not competent to comment on the issue, as he is not the custodian of the records obtained from the Central Bank.”I am not competent to speak on the matter. It is only my Interim Administrator, so you can direct your inquiries to him please”, he reportedly said.
