The Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has denied ever accusing members of the National Assembly of collecting 60 per cent of the contracts at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Senator Akpabio, in a letter read on the floor of the House during plenary on Thursday by the Speaker, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, said that the only reference he made to 60 per cent during his presentation before the NDDC committee on Monday was in response to a question by a member of the committee.
He said the member had sought to know whether a Medical Director could serve as an Executive Director Project, to which he responded by saying that since 50 to 60 per cent of NDDC contracts were medical-related, there was nothing wrong in a Medical Director serving in that capacity.
He also said that the Executive Director Project of the NDDC forwarded to him a list of 19 owed contracts which the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC insisted must be paid before the 2020 budget of the commission was passed.
He also said that the NDDC had not executed any contract under the 2020 budget since it had not been passed, while the 2019 budget was passed in April and had not been implemented
The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, however, referred the letter to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges for further legislative action.
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