The Federal Government has accepted the recommendation of the Senate to dissolve the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
This was disclosed in a statement shared by the Presidential Spokespersons, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina and seen by Newsonspot on Thursday.
The statement stated that the commission has been returned to the Presidency for proper supervision.
It stated, “The President has hereby dissolved the NDDC IMC. The affected officers are to hand over to the most senior civil servant under them. Barr Onwubualiri Nkemdilim is hereby appointed as sole Administrator for an initial period of 6 months.”
It had been reported that the senate recommended the sack of the NDDC IMC, as the lawmakers also asked the outgoing IMC to refund the N4.923 billion alleged illegal payments made to staff of the commission and contractors in breach of the procurement process.
The upper chamber said that this refund should be made to the account of NDDC with immediate effect.
The resolution was sequel to the adoption of recommendations of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee, investigating the alleged misappropriation of N40 billion by the current IMC.
The recommendation of the committee was presented on the floor of the senate by its Chairman, Senator Adetunbi.
A breakdown of the refund which the senate wants refunded includes Overseas Travel to the United Kingdom N85.7million, Scholarship grants N105.5 million, Union Members’ trip to Italy N164.2 million.
The other refunds which the senate wants made to the NDDC’s Account by the IMC are: payment made for Lassa Fever Kit N1.96 billion, payment for Public Communication valued at N1.12 billion, and COVID-19 fund expenditure N1.49 billion.
