NDDC BOSS SAYS SENATORS GOT 20M, REPS 15M EACH AS COVID–19 PALLIATIVE - SENATE REACTS
The Senate has denied the allegation made by Dr Cairo Ojougbo, Executive Director, Projects of the NDDC which says that Senators collected N20 million each as COVID-19 relief fund.
This was in response to the allegation made by the NDDC head that Senators collected N20 million, members of House of Representatives collected N15 million each as COVID-19 palliative.
In a statement signed by the Senate spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, on Tuesday, September 1, it disclaimed the allegation in its entirety, saying that no Senator collected the sum of N20 million or any sum whatsoever from NDDC as COVID-19 relief fund of for any purpose whatsoever.
The upper chamber hereby asked Ojougboh to provide evidence of his claim or he should apologize for the false allegation.
“The Senate categorically denies that any Senator collected the sum of N20 million or any sum whatsoever from NDDC as COVID-19 relief fund of for any purpose whatsoever.
The Senate challenges Dr Ojougboh to publicly provide evidence of his claim and list the names of the Senators he allegedly gave the alleged sum.
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Failure to provide evidence of his claim, the Senate hereby demands an immediate retraction and a public apology from Dr Cairo Ojougboh,” the statement read.
In a Monday statement by the (NDDC) head, Cairo Ojouagbo said there will be chaos if the full list of those who were awarded contracts by the commission is released.
Cairo Ojouagbo said Peter Nwaoboshi, senate committee chairman on NDDC, and Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, and the rest of the National Assembly are culpable.
The director said he only wants to make sure that all the monies that have been spent are accounted for.
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Recall that Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, had named some beneficiaries after the National Assembly threatened to sue him.
The Minister, while appearing before the National Assembly panel probing of the alleged mismanagement of N81.5 billion by the interim management committee (IMC) of the NDDC, claimed that federal lawmakers were the biggest beneficiaries of contracts awarded by the commission.
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