N6.2b Palliative Fraud: Senate Insist On Arrest Order On NDDC Management
The Nigeria Senate has reiterated its determination in line with the legislative process to ensure that public servants are accountable for their actions.
Newsmen understand that the 9th assembly declared this while maintaining its stand on the warrant of arrest issued against the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
It could be recalled that the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on 21st February 2021, issued a warrant of arrest for the management of Niger Delta Development Commission to be brought before it to account for how N6.25 billion palliative fund given to it by the Federal Government was spent.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Ayo Akinyelure had argued the inquiries by Daily Post correspondent in Abuja, following the reported denial of ‘arrest warrant’ by the Senate Committee Chairman on NDDC, Senator Peter Nwoboshi.
According to Akinyelure, Senator Nwoboshi might have been quoted out of context, insisting that his Committee’s warrant of arrest stands.
He said: “Maybe the Chairman, Senate Committee on NDDC was quoted out of context.
“As far as we are concerned in the Senate Committee on Ethics Privileges, and Public Petitions, in our last meeting, we issued a warrant of arrest and it still stands. We ruled that a warrant of arrest be issued to bring in the management of NDDC to explain how palliative of N6.25 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic was paid.
“We had earlier issued three invitation letters to bring in the management of NDDC before the Committee, they never responded. And the penalty contemplated before the last meeting was that, if by the last meeting, they didn’t respond, the warrant of arrest be issued and that is what we did.
At that time, there were a lot of problems in NDDC. The management Committee was dissolved by Mr President, but having now a Sole Administrator who was one of the management Committee, they should come.”
He disclosed that the NDDC management had reached out to the Committee moments after the arrest order and promised to appear in the next meeting.
Akinyeleru added: “The Sole Administrator of NDDC, Effiong Akwa has already sent a delegation to the Committee that in the next meeting, he’s going to appear. The next meeting is yet to be fixed.
They have been given instructions by the Committee that all necessary defence they have concerning N6.25 billion fund, they should get ready and we gave them three weeks so that they can prepare the necessary defence for them to come and explain,”
He further explained that the process of getting a public officer arrested takes time, noting that the Committee was serious in tackling the NDDC.
He said: “In the meantime, the process of issuing a warrant of arrest in Senate delays a little. It’s not just by pronouncement and the warrant of arrest is ready tomorrow.
“This is an institution of the National Assembly, there are procedures for doing things. So when a warrant of arrest is issued to bring a certain respondent to the Committee for their deliberate action not to honour a Committee; under our rule, the Committee Chairman and others can resolve to issue arrest warrant which accordingly is what we did in our last meeting. No controversy about that.
“By now the process of issuing a warrant of arrest has reached a final stage, but they have respected themselves, they have come and we are giving three weeks for them to prepare their defence and when they are going to present their defence, it’s to be during the public hearing”, he added.
