A civil society organisation, the Social Development Integrated Centre has asked the National Assembly to stop all procurements at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The communications officer of the group, Peace Agbo, made the demand in a statement on Monday.
Agbo said anyone who opposes corruption would cringe at the fact that billions of dollars have been “swooped in a reckless spending spree” without impact on the region.
The body cited the Senate probe and shocking findings.
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Agbo regretted the discovery of ₦3.175billion spent by Interim Management Committee (IMC) as COVIID-19 palliatives; the ₦808.9million imprest she said was unknown to the law; the sharing of ₦4.9billion by Acting MD, Daniel Pondei and 1,400 staff, among others.
“We call on the National Assembly to immediately suspend all awards of contracts and procurement in the NDDC. The commission’s activities have violated all relevant procurement laws and sections of the Public Procurement Act of 2007”, the statement noted.
The group advised that if it was necessary to spend any money, then such monies should be for the execution of projects only.
“A procedural method should be initiated for approval and spending strictly followed by detailed evidential receipts of such spending. This initiative will promote the use of an approved annual budget as the principal tool and authorization for all its expenditures.”
Agbo added that from the various expenditures on projects unrelated to the mandate of the NDDC, the commission disregarded its budget.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK