The face-off between the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the National Assembly worsened on Thursday as the acting Managing Director (MD) of the Commission, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, walked out on an investigative committee of the House of Representatives (HOR) chaired by Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo looking into the operations of the Commission.
Professor Pondei said his Commission did not believe that Hon Tunji-Ojo would be fair to the NDDC Interim Management Committee in carrying out the investigation into alleged malfeasance on the part of the Commission.
According to the NDDC boss, Hon Tunji-Ojo had been accused on many occasions of crimes inimical to the growth and development of the Commission.
The MD/CEO added that the Committee Chairman did not have the clean hands to sit in judgement over the affairs of the Commission.
Professor Pondei therefore, refused to speak to the Committee and rather took a bow and left.
The House had May 2020 passed a resolution to investigate alleged illegal and reckless spendings by the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC.
It would be recalled that at the opening ceremony of the investigative hearing on Tuesday, the Committee Chairman, Tunji-Ojo, alleged that the IMC had spent the sum of N81.5bn from the coffers of the NDDC, from February to May 2020, without due process.
