Timi Frank, a former deputy spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called for the probe of a project by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Lauretta Onochie, chairperson of the NDDC, had disowned a $15 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the management of the commission and Atlanta Global Resources Inc., a US-based firm.
The firm is said to have been engaged by the commission to construct a mega railway project.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Frank asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to look into the matter.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said the contract is “shady” because it did not have the approval of the board.
“It is curious therefore, as to how only the managing director and a selected few in connivance with the minister of Niger Delta affairs would proceed to sign an MoU without the prior knowledge of the chairman, but rather justifying an ultra vires action,” he said.
Frank said the MoU was undertaken “without due consultation with the board”, adding that it is “out rightly insensitive at this time”.
He called on the NDDC to be “reminded that the struggle for the attainment of a better Niger Delta was a battle fought by many and thus as stakeholders in this struggle, we’re mandated to serve the people relentlessly rather than engaging in the same setbacks of the past”.
Frank asked the members of the commission’s management not to toe the same path as their predecessors.