Senate on Thursday said it has uncovered how the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of NDDC shared the sum of N1.5 bn among staff as COVID-19 relief package.
Nigerian Police Force also benefited from N1.5bn COVID-19 relief package.
The National Assembly is currently probing allegation of misappropriation of N40 billion by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the commission.
Chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Investigation of the alleged Financial Recklessness in the NDDC, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, gave the details of how the money was spent at the ongoing investigative public hearing in Abuja.
He said the sum of N10 million was given to one staff, N7 million each to two staff and N5 million each to three staff. He said N3 million each was given to 148 staff, N1.5 million each to 175 staff, N1 million each to 495 staff, N600,000 each to 464 staff and N475 million to the Nigerian Police to buy face mask and hand sanitizers.
In his response, the commission’s Acting Managing Director, Kemebradikumo Pondei, said the money were given to the staff as COVID-19 relief fund to ease the effect of the pandemic on them.
“We have to take care of the staff, who are also the representatives of the people from the nine states of the Niger Delta region,” he said.
On the N475 million given to the police to buy face mask and hand sanitizers, he said the Commission received the request from the police high command and the management approved it.
“We work very closely with the police. Without them, we can’t work.
“A request from the Police high command was made to us and the management looked at it and approved. “We gave the money to Police high command and they have not given us the record of how the money was spent,” he said.