The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to make public the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) forensic audit report.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Wike claimed the report has been “shelved to protect those who might be indicted in any form of fraud.”
Wike also leveled allegations against Rotimi Amaechi’s wife, suggesting she “benefitted from the government when her husband was in power,” though he did not provide evidence.
Highlighting the audit’s purpose, Wike said it “investigated the financial transactions and project implementations… from its inception in 2001 to August 2019,” with the aim of “identifying mismanagement, misappropriation of funds, and other irregularities.”
He added pointedly, “Let President Bola Ahmed Tinubu do us a favour and release the report of the forensic audit of the NDDC. Mr President should help Nigerians.”
He continued, “If they release it, I will resign as FCT minister.”
“Let them release the document, if what I am saying is not in the document, I will resign as the minister of FCT. I don’t worship the office.”
Wike contrasted his own background with alleged corruption: “I came from a comfortable home and did not need to steal any money from public funds.”
He accused Amaechi: “He is one of the most corrupt people.” He claimed he refused bribes and never “took from a contractor,” in contrast to Amaechi, and mocked Amaechi’s jealousy over his own Rolls-Royce: “His anger is that he saw me using a Rolls‑Royce—and so what? It was not given to me by a contractor; a contractor gave him, and that is a bribe.”
He also questioned Amaechi’s academic credentials, stating: “Amaechi went to Rivers State University, but he couldn’t pass.”
Wike’s remarks came a day after Amaechi praised his wife, calling her “almost an industrialist.” Wike replied to that assertion by insisting she “was a beneficiary of a monthly contract to train women of the Niger Delta.”
2020 NDDC Probe
The NDDC has faced similar controversies in the past. In July 2020, during a House of Representatives audit, then-Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, famously claimed: “most of the contracts in the NDDC are given out to members of the National Assembly.”
The hearing also featured a dramatic moment when Daniel Pondei, then acting Managing Director of the NDDC, “slumped on his desk” following over an hour of intense questioning.
