Speaking on the level of corruption discovered in NDDC, Akpabio said the commission wasted funds on insignificant projects while crucial ones were left to suffer.
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has accused the Niger Delta Development Commission of spending billions of naira on “useless programmes”.
The commission, which is under the country of the Niger Delta ministry, has been under scrutiny with the Presidency ordering a forensic audit of its projects since inception.
Speaking on the level of corruption discovered in NDDC, Akpabio said the commission wasted funds on insignificant projects while crucial ones were left to suffer.
He said, “I always say that he who works in the pulpit can eat from the pulpit, but not to steal the pulpit and what had happened in the past was that people go there and steal the pulpit.
“When you steal the pulpit, the next manager or preacher has nothing to preach from and that’s how you hear about the indebtedness of the NDDC and all that because at any point people just go there, amass wealth, either for electoral purposes or for personal use and the place is abandoned.
“The poverty in the area, the ecological problems, the environmental hazards, the disconnect between the NDDC and the people of the region, all these things collectively, your heart will bleed when you see what is going on.
“Billions are spent on useless programmes. People are suffering from cancer and other diseases and no good hospital that one could say was built by the NDDC.”