The Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has said that he never accused members of the 9th National Assembly of being beneficiaries of contracts from the Niger Delta Development Committee (NDDC).
Mr Akpabio’s volte-face was contained in a letter the House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila who had earlier given the minister 48 hours to name the beneficiaries of the NDDC contracts he alleged.
Gbajabimila had just informed the green chamber that he had directed the Clerk of the House to engage the services of a legal counsel to file a suit of perjury against Akpabio when the letter from the minister came.
Mr Akpabio, in his letter, said “I never referred to members of the 9th House of Representatives as beneficiaries of NDDC contracts as the NDDC is yet to fully implement any NDDC budget since the commencement of the 9th National Assembly.”
But Akpabio accused the chairman of the House Committee on NDDC Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo of mounting pressure on the commission to pay certain contractors before approval of their budget.
Gbajabimila said that the House is a public trust placed in the care of lawmakers for the duration of term in office.
