NDDC: I thought the fortunes of Joi were linked to that of Akpabio. After all, the initial challenge was the legitimacy of the IMC and the chief defender of the IMC was Akpabio. I could not see her going against Akpabio as I thought it would be a self-defeating stance, but definitely she did.

I am even more amazed at the publicity she has attracted in recent times.

First she tries to ridicule the forensic audit. A very worthwhile venture, no matter the imperfections of the IMC. And she was a champion of it while in office and never saw any wrong in carrying it out. In fact she started a “verification” exercise, a technical precursor of sorts of the forensic audit , for which she was entitled to the credit for. It was a good idea and her being out of office should not reduce, in my opinion, her assessment of the necessity and even accomplishments of that exercise. She was very vocal in showcasing the benefits of the exercise regarding determining actual claims and indebtedness of the Commission to various contractors and vendors. For her to repudiate it all now is simply stupid.

Yes she had issues with Akpabio and a lot of it was because of her temperament and lack of sagacity. By this I do not mean that she was strict and principled, which I concede can be a problem of its own in Nigerian politics. On the contrary she was inconsistent, intemperate, ill-exposed to high executive office. She mistook rigidity and immobility for doggedness and refused advice from all around her who meant well for her and the Commission. She was also not above the vices she found in her predecessors and found cause to pay her family friends the LuluBriggs for as at then unverified construction contracts.

Toward the end of her tenure, she would tell anyone and everyone that she had her connections with Mr President from before the APC days and that she was the first daughter of the Buhari political family. Am sure these things blinded her to the political reality of the day and of the formal relationship she as MD ought to have with Akpabio as Hon Minister. I believe that she did not respond to the letters from the supervising ministry as alleged by Akpabio. She also relied on her invincibility as regards removal, believing that the IMC would stay or leave as a group. At no time did she envisage the possibility that the Presidency would approve her replacement without the fate of the other members being affected.

After her removal I thought she would go into a quiet mode. We now know the truth about her NYSC service. She did not serve. The story is that she did not graduate and so could not serve. She risks these facts becoming public knowledge by her juvenile accusations of Akpabio. Her accusations of corruption against him are not “revealing” in any special way. First she says he asked her to change dollars to naira. But she does not do that. The dollars, hopefully, are safe.

She also says no payments are made without Akpabio approving such. If that were true, it would be wrong and ought to be condemned. But it must be condemned for what it is – micromanagement. Nothing in her statement says that spurious payments were thrust on her to make.

Regarding the claim that it was Akpabio who asked her to make allegations against Senator

Peter Nwaoboshi regarding 130 or so contract files, is she saying the allegation is no longer true against a certain “distinguished senator” as she informed us in her early days at the Commission? Notwithstanding whoever instigated the matter, the fact of there being files associated with the Senator, in the order of the 130 stated, was highlighted by her as MD. And she ought to know. Even Nwaoboshi himself inadvertently corroborated the issue when he said Akpabio asked for some projects in 2017 as a Senator. The national assembly big-wigs cannot therefore be said to be unaware of the juicy environment at the NDDC. The NDDC was indeed an ATM for the national assembly (and the top staff of the place who took advantage of the complicity of their supervisors to enrich themselves). Peter Nwaoboshi, as Chairman Senate Committee on the NDDC, was possibly the “pointsman” of the Senate regarding the projects of interest to them. That was the origin and explanation of the 130 files, the 3% revenue collection fee amounting to up to N1bn a month at times, yes N1bn a month on good days, the numerous desilting and emergency contracts which were awarded without any drawings and without any stated up front contract sum, and other malfeasance. She was the one who revealed these things to us. For her to suddenly not remember these things gives room to believe she has a health challenge in the memory department. Or maybe the Plan A was then yet being executed harmoniously.

The only question i thought the press would have asked her is to say exactly when she knew that Akpabio was not trustworthy, that the Forensic probe was not actually going on and that there was no culpability on the part of some national assembly members or of any of the top staff of the Commission including her beloved northerner “Legal”. Why is it now that she is telling us all of this?

To reduce the issues of the NDDC to personal issues belittles the serious issues besetting an agency supposed to uplift the livelihood of nine states of this country. The systems in place at the Commission, the vision and strategic plans of the founding founders, the policies and programmes of the Commission and their plans to achieve the onerous mandate should be the main thrust of the discussion by all the combatants.

The IMC as presently constituted, and any executive management of the NDDC for some time in the immediate future, will have a challenge of meeting the humongous debt profile, real or imagined, genuine or spurious, that is linked to the Commission. And of navigating the internal and external interests focusing on the vast resources available to the Commission. They may not always make the best decisions.

The grapevine story is that the present IMC tried to negotiate with the national assembly. Which was why the IMC was invited to present the requests for “virement” to normalise some of their earlier proposals that had been cut down or cut out by the distinguished senators. Some concessions were proposed, and some were made. Directors who were to be retired were eventually merely posted to other areas. With the national assembly the discussions however broke down rapidly and that led to the resurgence of the probe on N40bn for an agency that is itself probing the debt profile of N2tn to the public on its books with a project profile that has the same high interests in the web of the inquiry. You audit me, I probe you.

I fear that no matter the facts that emerge from the probe panel, whether justified or not, evidenced or not, the national assembly will end up with an embarrassing conclusion regarding the IMC. And Dr Cairo Ojuigbo would be proved right – all the shenanigans are to torpedo the Forensic Audit. There would then be “justification” for the distinguished gentlemen to deny the appropriation required for the audit to be paid for. Even if that happens, and I pray it does not, NDDC will still no longer be the ATM it used to be. That era of gross impunity is over. And whoever oversees the Commission, including those micromanaging it are, in the balance, to be thanked for their efforts.

Ayebana G.
Yenagoa.