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Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio has named lawmakers who got contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), THISDAY reports.
The newspaper said the names of the lawmakers were attached to the letter the minister sent to the house of representatives.
The former Akwa Ibom State governor was responding to an ultimatum by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who had given him 48 hours to name the lawmakers who got the contracts or face the “wrath of the House.”
While appearing before a House panel probing the alleged mismanagement of N81.5 billion by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the commission, Akpabio had said federal lawmakers were the biggest beneficiaries of the contracts awarded by the commission.
When Gbajabiamila read Akpabio’s letter on the floor of the House on Thursday, he did not mention that there was a list of contract beneficiaries attached to the letter.
The minister, however, did not provide the cost of the projects listed against the lawmakers’ names, while the cost of contracts given to non-lawmakers had costs of various projects attached to them.
Akpabio reportedly listed Peter Nwaoboshi, senate committee chairman on NDDC; Matthew Urhoghide, senate committee chairman on public accounts, and James Manager, senator representing Delta South, as beneficiaries.
Sam Anyanwu, a former senator representing Imo East, and Nicholas Mutu, a lawmaker from Delta who chaired the house NDDC committee in the 8th assembly, were also named as beneficiaries.
Mutu currently chairs the House committee on gas resources.
While Nwaoboshi’s name was tied to 53 projects, Mutu was said to have got 74 contracts.
Urhoghide, Manager and Anyanwu were said to have got 31 contracts in total.
Akpabio also said 19 contracts were awarded to others simply identified as Ondo and Edo Representatives.