Minister Umana reacts to N480 billion fraud allegations, sacking 700 NDDC workers
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana has reacted to the allegations of N480 billion fraud in a fresh summons notice issued to him by the National Assembly.
Recall that the Senate on Thursday summoned the minister over an alleged plot to siphon the said sum, which is an intervention fund belonging to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A petition received by the Red Chambers accused Umana of plotting to withdraw the fund without the lawmakers’ approval, among other allegations.
Reacting in a statement issued on Friday by his Special Assistant on Media, Iboro Otogaran, Umana said the allegations were “false and totally baseless.”
He also refuted the allegation that he sacked 700 workers in the NDDC upon assumption of duty as a minister.
“In rejecting the false allegations made by professional petition writers to the National Assembly, Umana said no fraud has been committed under his watch in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, and that no money has been released or expended on the projects cited in the petition.
“The minister explained that in line with his directive at the last meeting of the National Council, adjustments had been made in the 2022 budget proposals of the NDDC to accommodate core regional infrastructure projects based on a new template for the development of the Niger Delta region.
“It is senseless for the petitioners to allege that the compilation of projects to include in the budget proposals of NDDC for 2022 for transmission to the National Assembly is a crime,” the statement said.
“Everything is at the proposal stage; no contracts have been awarded and no money has been disbursed or expended. Anything to the contrary is false and should be dismissed in its entirety,” it added.
The statement noted that Umana recalled that on the assumption of duty, he was briefed by both the ministry and the NDDC, whose interim administrator at the time complained of a bloated staff strength which made him (the minister) ask what the interim administrator had done about it.
He explained that after the inaugural briefing, the interim administrator of the NDDC never came back to him to discuss any action he had taken or planned to take on the issue.
“The allegation of non-performance peddled in the same petition is also baseless. The Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs reports to the President, and not to hired petition writers. It is the President that assesses the performance of his ministers,” Otogaran stated.
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