The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has dismissed a report that its Interim Management Committee (IMC) led by Prof. Keme Pondei, squandered N200bn on fake contracts in the past two months.
Describing the report as classical fake news, NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, said the commission did not pay such money for genuine contracts much less fake ones.
Odili explained that the total payments made by the IMC within two months was N22bn comprising money paid to vendors and suppliers such as hotels and contractors especially persons owed N50million and below.
He said in the past three months, the commission only received N33bn, which he said was a far cry to the reported N200bn.
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a report in a little known online publication accusing the Interim Management Committee of squandering N200 billion on payment for fake contracts in the past two months. This story is classical fake news as the Commission has not paid out any such amount, even for genuine contracts, not to talk of fake ones.
“The total payments made by the Interim Management Committee in the past two months is about N22 billion. This covers payments to vendors and suppliers like hotels, and contractors, especially those owed N50 million and below.
“The total funds available to the Commission in the past three months is N33 billion, a rather distant cry from the humongous amount quoted by the report. Since the Commission cannot pay what it does not have, it beats the imagination where these merchants of falsehood cooked their figures from.
“While the commission, as public spirited organisation, welcomes intense media scrutiny, it abhors fake news peddled by online publications whose interests have nothing to do with the common good. We call on our stakeholders to ignore these reports”.

By Mike Odigwe