Mr Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta has again been fingered in another hefty corruption breach, this time allegedly bribing a senior official of the Code of Conduct Bureau to the tune of N100 million! The bribe was said to have been swiftly carried out by the honourable minister to stop the probe of his protégé one Effiong Okon Akwa, the current Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The Sole Administrator is being investigated for failing to declare his assets since 2013.
Akwa was Special Assistant on Finance to Mr Bassey Dan Abia, another Akpabio stooge and former Managing Director of the NDDC between 2013-2915. Dan Abia himself was a former commissioner in Akpabio’s cabinet while he was governor of Akwa Ibom State. Akwa Is alleged not to have declared his assets since his first appointment and after he was named sole administrator of the NDDC.
Mr Akwa, according to reliable sources had been invited by the CCB via a letter to answer inquiries relating to his assets but instead, he reached out to his boss Mr Akpabio who subsequently swung into action; he was said to have approached a director in the CCB for help; the CCB director, in turn, decided to cash in on this golden opportunity and demanded for and received N100 million to”kill” the matter. Based on a successful deal, the “director” then personally at the Hilton Hotel, room 909, Abuja, assisted to “doctor” the asset declaration form made available;e to Mr Akwa through the “back door” and then had it backdated to give the procedure a semblance of honesty.
A certain Mr Emma Inyang Eto was believed to have led the CCB officials to the Hilton room where the money was believed to have exchanged hands and the illegal act was perpetrated. It is not clear the role of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice played; but once the reality of the deal was made public, he was said to have distanced himself from the matter to save Mr Akwa for his failure to declare his assets declaration form—considered a serious crime by the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The dust raised by the appointment of Mr Akwa as Sole Administrator of the NDDC is yet to settle down before this new scandal broke out. Those in the know are racing to ensure that the matter is not swept under the carpet knowing the reputation of the Niger Delta Minister who is no stranger to controversies.
