Charles Odili, spokesman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was compelled to level corruption allegations against Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman senate committee on Niger Delta.
A source in NDDC hints that the Minister of Niger Delta was the brain behind the spurious allegations leveled against the the Chairman Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi.
It was gathered that an aide to the Minister of Niger Delta wrote the press statement, forwarded it to NDDC spokesmen and compelled him to issued it on behalf of the commission.
In a statement on June 8, Odili accused Nwaoboshi of using 11 companies as fronts to secure himself a N3.6 billion contract in September 2016.
“We believe that until Senator Nwaoboshi can absolve himself of his role in the looting of the resources of the commission, he should step aside from any investigative activity against the commission,” he had said.
“From our findings, the person who has questions to answer to the Niger Delta people is Senator Nwaoboshi.”
Odili then listed Noan Integrated Services; De Towers Constructions & Allied Services Ltd; Franstine Nigeria Enterprises; Edrihide Company; Isumabe U.K. Global; Benchmark Construction & Allied Services Ltd; Millstone Allied Builders Ltd; Nelpat Nigeria Company; Agh-Rown Ventures; Edendoma Stars International; and Antlers Construction and Allied Works Ltd as the companies the senator allegedly used as fronts.
But the senator has since denied the allegation and filed a defamation suit against Odili.
Sources told our correspondent that Odili has become afraid following the suit filed against him by the senator.
“I can tell you that he is worried. He was made to level those allegations against the senator now he has been dragged to court,” a source said.
There have been allegations and counter-allegations following the decision of the senate to probe the NDDC.
While the senator has accused Akpabio of getting a N300 million fencing contract, the minister asked Nwaoboshi to respond to allegations by commission.
The NDDC accused members of the national assembly of inserting over 500 non-existent projects into the agency’s 2019 budget.
The IMC is expected to undertake a forensic audit of the commission’s finances from 2001 to 2019. President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the audit in October 2019.