Until her removal by President Muhammadu Buhari in February this year as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC Joy Nunieh had everything working for her, particularly the forensic audit she set up to unravel how the N2 trillion budgetary allocations to the commission, since inception, was spent.
Along the line, Nunieh, the daughter of Ogoni first lawyer hit a brick wall with Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and her supervisory minister, which led to her sack as the head of Interim Management of NDDC.
Various allegations were later hauled at her, including that she frustrated the audit firm contracted by the federal government from doing its job.
But she barely had the opportunity to defend herself until recently when she appeared before a committee set up by the National Assembly to investigate an alleged N40 billion fraud in the multi-billion naira agency, after which she revealed to journalists in Abuja, how Akapabio run the commission as if it’s his personal possession.
Akpabio, she alleged had warned her on her first day in office, that the only way to remain in the lucrative position is to dance to his tunes, failure to which” the same pen that I used to sign your letter will be the same I will use to remove you.”
She was to learn the hard way that disobeying the minister was like stepping on the tiger’s tail.
Her first assignment, to test her loyalty, came when Akpabio directed her to fire all the directors, considered by the minister to be insubordinate to his authority, including the Director of the legal unit because “we cannot have a northerner being head of legal unit,” Akpabio allegedly warned Nunieh.
She bluntly refused. The minister also allegedly told her to take a diabolical oath; approve multi-billion naira contracts without due process as well as signing a letter to implicate chairmen of the Senate and House Committee investigating fraud in the agency.
The magazine has titled the short, but heartrending interview “Akpabio Deceived Buhari To Sign Multi-billion NDDC contracts. Enjoy…
You cannot make any payment in NDDC without Akpabio’s approval. When we first came to NDDC on the day we were going for inauguration, he told me in the car, that madam MD, if you don’t do what I say the same pen which I used to sign your letter will be the same I will use to remove you”
He said the first thing I should do when I get to Port Harcourt is to change the dollars in NDDC Account. I was scared to do that. After that he came to Port Harcourt two days after the inauguration. He said the first thing I should do is to make sure I change the dollar, is to change Mr Katungo, head of legal and make sure I sent him on compulsory retirement, that we cannot have a northerner being head of legal unit.”
He said I should remove other directors that refused to take his instructions during the tenure of my predecessor.”
He came also with a draft which I submitted, that I should write, putting my letter head implicating Senator Nwobushi, for collecting contract in NDDC. I told him I will not because I’m a lawyer, that whoever allege must prove.
The fact that Senator Nwaoboshi is giving us trouble in IMC( Interim Management Committee)……..Remember also that they do not recognize the IMC, I said I would not do that letter. He said I was ungrateful.
And I refused to do the letter. Dr Cairo now said he would do the letter, that if Akpabio tells him to kill, he would kill before he asked why he killed.
I said for me, I would not do the letter. On that day there was Mr Etiebet who was the only staff present at that meeting.
When he finished he now asked Dr Cairo to send for a letter headed paper from the office. Dr Cairo now did the letter which I have also submitted to the committee, alleging that Senator Nwobushi had contracts. Then he said I must sign the cover letter, I said if I sign, any document signed by me seen by Mr President, he will believe every line of it.
I said I will only write that the EDP (Executive Director Project) who should know about project has done… The next thing, he told me that I must make sure that all these people here leave, because the procurement apparently….
Akpabio himself when he and Festus Keyamo were ministers, their first meeting at the commission, he (Akpabio) was awarded 30 contracts for distilling and water hyacinth. Mr Linus who was Director of Finance refused to sign because it did not follow due process.
He also said I should implicate the chairman of the House committee ‘because the chairman has gone to Ondo to a meeting to plan against him’. They said the contract for water stilting and hyacinth was about 3 to 5 billion, I’m not sure how much exactly how much, that the NDDC before I came has overstretched itself for N50 billion for water hyacinth and distilling. And so the National Assembly has written us, and they (committee) have it also: that we should not pay for anything like that. Akpabio never signed any document, he will refuse to sign but ask you to go and commit the fraud.
For instance, he told me to go and raise a memo and give an emergency contract for flood victims.
He wanted me to take an oath. He has denied that, but I want to say today, he told me up to three times until we had a reconciliatory meeting at the Villa, in the house of Sarki Abba, who is the SA to the president on Domestics. In that meeting was Alhaji Maikano. He said the only condition is if I take the oath.
I refused to take the oath. And I did not take the oath. And I will never take an oath from him. So he said he was going to remove me then, he started the campaign of calumny against me. I did not answer him because the fact will speak for itself.
Now to end this matter about the procurement process, I refused to go with him to deceive Mr President at the FEC meeting, because the procurement Act says if I contravene any section of the Act, it’s five years imprisonment without an option of fine.
So if I go and say they should go and pay for the procurement…… You see he says is for 2020 budget. Akpabio wanted to get approval from FEC. The 2020 budget has not even been discussed by NASS till today. The 2020 budget has not been passed.
However he lied to FEC which is the greatest embarrassment in the country; for budget that has not been passed and an approval to be given for that procurement.
I refused to go because he wanted me to send the money for the procurement to the Ministry to implement the forensic audit. I refused.
I’m challenging him to deny any of these allegations, because I have to round off for you people. But all that I have said are written in the document before the committee.
