Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, has asked the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, to address the alleged cases of employment racketeering in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The illegality according to the Senate panel, was allegedly perpetrated during the regime of the immediate past management of the agency.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, appealed while addressing journalists in his office.

He spoke on the recent developments in the intervention agency.

He explained that there were a series of Petitions before his panel by aggrieved job seekers from the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country, alleging that the agency’s management did not allow them to carry out any documentation despite issuing them, original letters of employment.

Akinyelure explained that one of the petitions, signed by a former deputy governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, specifically alleged that the employment in the NDDC was sold for various amounts depending on the financial strength of the applicant’s family.

He added that the Minister had already denied the allegation of the sack of 100 NDDC workers by him on resumption of office when he appeared before his panel.

The Senator said, “The former management of the NDDC carried out a lot of atrocities in that Commission and our Committee has advised Umana and the new managing director to go deep and review all the issues.

“Cases of Nigerians that had been short-changed and disenfranchised from working in the agency of government, should be given employment immediately.

“There are original employment letters before our Committee. Many letters were issued to qualified Nigerians after they had passed both written and oral interviews but they were not allowed to resume.

“We have their petitions before us and the man from the NDDC that testified before the Committee that the letters were genuine, was later sacked by the management.

“There were massive cases of employment racketeering in the NDDC. Those who have genuine letters were not documented because they were asked to go and pay money that they could not afford.

“Those who were perpetrating the illegality would now sell the employment to those who didn’t participate in any interview at all. They are working there now.

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“There are about seven cases from Ondo State whose issues were brought before our Committee by a former governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, in a petition he wrote over a year ago.

“We invited the immediate past Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, to explain what was happening in the agency but he didn’t come.”

Akinyelure said the current Minister had described as untrue, the allegation that he approved the disengagement of some workers.

The Senator however said the Minister should redress the anomaly, as soon as the Board of the NDDC was inaugurated after confirmation of its members by the Senate.

He said, “The Minster has said the allegations of non-documentation of legitimately employed staff of NDDC and request of Senate Committee for reinstatement of sacked employees of NDDC and those prematurely wrongly retired by the former Management together with the ones wrongly alleged to be sacked, would be looked into.

“He also said necessary corrective actions will be taken by the new Management to address them all to move the Agency forward to a greater height of development by the new management of NDDC under his supervision, to achieve significantly the mandate of NDDC to develop the Niger Delta region.”

Akinyelure said the engagement his committee had with the Minister had yielded fruits as 2021, 2022, and 2023 budget estimates of the NDDC had been presented before the Senate for consideration and approval.

He also said the interaction with the Minister led to the approval and composition of the Board of the NDDC by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He commended Buhari for appointing a Woman, Lauretta Ifeanyi-Onochie as the Chairman of the Board of the Agency.

He said, “Since men had been managing the agency for a long time and there was not much significant improvement, Mr. President may think that the appointment of a woman could change a lot of things at the NDDC.”

The panel exonerated the Minister of all allegations contained in a separate petition that accused him of plotting to siphon N480 billion NDDC funds lodged with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The Senate Committee had in October extended an invitation to the Minister to come forward and provide explanations to the weighty allegations which included an alleged plot to replace the erstwhile Sole Administrator, Effiong Akwa, a refusal to constitute the NDDC Board and attempts to withhold the budgets of the commission from 2021 to 2023 away from the scrutiny of the National Assembly.

Akinyelure said the Senate Committee met with the Minister behind closed doors and was pleased with his submissions on all the allegations levelled against him.

He said his Committee became even more tolerable to the Minister’s assurances to resolve other outstanding issues after the presentation of the budgets of NDDC before the Senate on Wednesday coupled with moves by President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a new Board for the Commission.

The Committee subsequently called on the Minister to take a look into the issue of alleged job racketeering inside the NDDC.