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The Senate Advert hoc Committee investigating the budgets of Niger Delta Improvement Fee (NDDC) failed to sit down on Friday regardless of inviting former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, to look earlier than it.
Mr Akpabio, the senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North-west, is President Bola Tinubu’s most popular candidate for the place of Senate President of the tenth Nationwide Meeting.
The Senate had about two weeks in the past arrange the Advert hoc Committee to analyze the 2021, 2022, and 2023 budgets of the NDDC, which it claimed have been carried out with out the approval of the Nationwide Meeting.
Earlier than resigning in Might final yr to contest election, Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, was the supervising minister of the NDDC throughout the mentioned interval.
In a press release on Friday, Mr Akpabio’s spokesperson, Jackson Udom, mentioned the previous minister was invited by the chairperson of the Advert hoc Committee, Yusuf Yusuf, on Thursday by way of a cellphone name to look earlier than it on Friday by 10 a.m.
“I used to be required to deliver sure paperwork referring to the investigation of the Adhoc Committee on NDDC budgets. I honoured the invitation with each serving and incoming colleagues of mine. However sadly, now we have been right here for over three hours with none member of the Advert-hoc Committee right here on the chairman’s workplace,” Mr Akpabio mentioned.
Mr Akpabio was accompanied on the go to by members of the Stability Group — a bunch of senators-elect who’ve endorsed his candidacy for the Senate Presidency.
Nevertheless, the Committee didn’t sit when Mr Akpabio honoured the invitation, in accordance with the assertion from Mr Akpabio.
Mr Akpabio mentioned he spoke to the Committee chairperson, Mr Yusuf, who instructed him that members of the Committee will need to have gone to the Mosque and promised to repair a brand new date for the previous governor to look.
“I acquired different members of the committee like Senator Uche Ekwunife, who mentioned she just isn’t conscious of the invitation as all investigative actions have been concluded. As a legislator, I’ll at all times accord the parliament all respect when invited to look.
“Let me additionally place it on document that at the same time as we converse, I’m but to get a tough copy of the invitation, however I’ve to respect the authority of our Nationwide Meeting.
“I learnt that the Home of Representatives had since handed the three budgets in query and that there was no resolution to ask me as a former minister that resigned from the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs nearly a yr in the past. I used to be solely a supervising minister for NDDC exercising delegated authority over an company within the ministry,” Mr Akpabio mentioned.
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