The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio has reacted to corruption allegations made against him by Joy Nunieh, a former Acting Managing Director of Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
KanyiDaily recalls that Mrs Nunieh had recounted her ordeal at the hands of Akpabio before she was removed as the NDDC MD. She accused the Minister of serial corrupt practices and fraud.
Mrs Nunieh alleged that during her brief tenure at the commission, Mr Akpabio repeatedly pressured her to take “an oath of secrecy” that was meant to keep her from exposing fraud at the commission.
However, reacting in a television interview on Arise News, Akpabio advised Mrs Nunieh “to go to the hospital; see a doctor; get some injection and relax.”
Akpabio said Mrs Nunieh has character problem and also charged his interviewer to bring the four husbands of the former NDDC MD, whom she had alllegedly divorced, to the studio to attest to her temperament. He said:
“I don’t want to discuss her because that’s not the job of a Minister. The last MD you mentioned, Joy Nunieh, I wish she can go to hospital, see a doctor take some injections and relax.
“I’m not saying that there’s something wrong with her, but I’m saying there’s something wrong with her temperament. Remember she had about four other husbands that she married.
“You also need to bring all the other former husbands to the studio so that you ask them questions one after the other because it looks like character. They will have answers to her problem. Not a professional conduct, is she a professional?
“They will tell you about her characters because what I’m seeing here…if somebody comes up and say something on television channel…then the whole world…Nigerians love bad news and my job is to protect the citizens of the country and the administration of Mr. President .
“I must tell you that even Mr. President, President Buhari was not aware of all these things because I did not want to bother because he will be shocked.
“She was not relieved of her appointment because of corruption. But she was relieved of her appointment because of insubordination. My ministry that supervised her wrote seven letters to her. She never responded. And then she said she was bigger than the Minister of Niger Delta.”
Akpabio’s reply has triggered reactions among Nigerian on social media.
https://twitter.com/TosinOlugbenga/status/1282195188887302144?s=20
https://twitter.com/NekkaSmith/status/1282223541883211776?s=20
https://twitter.com/_SirWilliam_/status/1282260958476410880?s=20
https://twitter.com/JohnNetworQ/status/1282255305372393472?s=20
This is coming barely one month after Senator Godswill Akpabio was accused of squandering the sum of N300 million given to him for fence construction contract by the NDDC.