Backstage pressure from a growing number of interest groups is mounting on the Buhari administration to make public the names of public officials and contractors indicted in the massive corruption scandal at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Some of the big names allegedly fingered in the rip-off of the interventionist agencies are players in the Buhari administration and stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Some of them defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a seeming desperate bid to be shielded from justice.
But, the Arewa community in the oil and gas region of the country has joined in calling for the heads of all those who stole from the development funds of the NDDC.
Arewa leader in the area, Musa Saidu, is calling on the Federal government to make public without any further delay names of persons found wanting in the recently concluded forensic audit of NDDC.
According to Saidu, publishing the names will serve as deterrent to others that may want to divert government’s funds released for projects across the country.Continuing, he said the government should ensure those found wanting are also prosecuted for their actions against development in the Niger Delta region.
“They should publish the names of all found wanting in the audit. They should also constitute the board. Now that the forensic audit has been concluded the next thing should be to constitute the board“, he said.
While stressing that the deprived people of the vastly polluted oil region should also know those that abandoned their development projects after being paid as well as public officials who were draining the Commission of funds, he added, “we know many people in government are involved . And also many claiming to be activists are involved.
‘’Traditional rulers may also be involved .If President Muhammadu Buhari is fighting corruption then he should take steps to make public the names of those found wanting in the contract scam. We are totally opposed to the NDDCgate scandal’’.
The Arewa leader also enjoined northern leaders that visited Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, to help northerners in the state appeal to the governor to protect their businesses since they have what he rubbed , easy access to the governor.
He said he has tried to reach the governor with some other northern leaders in the state to discuss some of the challenges northerners are currently facing doing business in Rivers under the Wike administration but have allegedly not been granted audience.
