The House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has issued a warrant of arrest on the acting Managing Director of the commission, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei.
The committee’s resolution followed a unanimous adoption of a motion by Hon. Benjamin Kalu (APC, Abia) at an investigative hearing in Abuja on Thursday, after Pondei and his team walked out on legislators investigating the alleged N40 billion irregular expenditure in the commission.
Pondei accused the committee’s chairman Hon. Olubumi Tunji-Ojo (APC, Ondo) of corrupt practices, saying that the NDDC will only respond and make presentations “if the chairman of the committee steps down”.
Kalu, who is the House’s spokesman, commended the committee members for the maturity exhibited following “the provocations” by Pondei.
“I want to refer this committee as well as the invited guests to section 60 which says that, the Senate or the House of Representatives shall have powers to regulate its own procedure.
“It is within the parameters of the law that the house regulates its activities, this is a committee affair and not a personalised affair.
“I want to move that this committee invokes the provisions of Section 89 of the Constitution and invoke our powers on warrant of arrest to compel the agency to come and answer how they have administered the money appropriated to them,” he said.
The committee, however, passed a vote of confidence on the chairman, describing him as a man of integrity and a leader of high reputation.
Earlier, Tunji-Ojo said that the committee was mandated by the house to carry out an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds in the agency.
He said that documents from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation showed that the NDDC had spent N81.5 billion between January and May.
The chairman recalled that officials from the CBN and the OAGF had appeared at the hearing on Wednesday and confirmed the amount so far spent by the NDDC.
