October 30, (THEWILL) — The Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum, and publisher of Integrity Watchdog Magazine, Comrade Prince Kpokpogri, has called on the public to disregard the news that the Managing Director of NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, was arrested over a failed plot to topple the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing it as fake news, speculative and the handiwork of a fifth columnist.
Prince Kpokpogri gave this caution in a press release, saying he was speaking as a concerned citizen over the spate of falsehood being peddled by Nigerians without cross-checking or fact-checking information before getting involved.
He asked, “When has being interrogated amounted to being arrested in a sane environment where people do not read meanings into the professional routine job of security agencies? When has it become a crime to answer questions as a friend to a suspect undergoing investigation?
“Who is actually afraid of Samuel Ogbuku over the next Bayelsa State Governorship election that he has not even declared his intentions for?”
Kpokpogri, however, maintained that Samuel Ogbuku, being close to Timipre Sylva, does not in any way present him as having a hand in the coup plot for which Timipre Sylva had been allegedly fingered.
He added that the security agencies reserve the right to ask Timipre Sylva’s friends questions after raiding his house in Abuja, but that should not in any way be misconstrued to mean that the NDDC helmsman was arrested in connection with any coup plot.
“Let it be noted that I am not speaking as a media aide or friend to Samuel Ogbuku. I am only speaking as a concerned citizen of Nigeria. My issue here basically is the peddling of falsehood and capitalising on a sad event at the national space to begin to denigrate and malign one of the most patriotic Nigerians and unarguably the best administrator Niger Deltans have ever had as MD of NDDC.
“Without mincing words, Samuel Ogbuku is the best that has happened to the Niger Delta in recent times. When you check the history of the Niger Delta Development Commission since inception, Samuel Ogbuku is the only MD that has carried the people along, spread contracts to not a few and unqualified people; his performance is top-notch, and his achievements are widely spread.
“Nobody should begin to use the circumstances of an allegation against his former boss to want to stain him. So far, he has proven the integrity and transparency that were needed to run an organisation such as NDDC”, Kpokpogri stated.
Furthermore, on the alleged N45 billion traced to Timipre Sylva’s account, Kpokpogri said, “If Timipre Sylva was allegedly paid as reported by the Punch Newspapers, I think the Management Board of the NDDC acted in good faith without allegedly knowing his agenda. He is a contractor to NDDC just like every other contractor working for the Commission; what he uses his money for is strictly his own question to answer. He handles the Shoreline Protection project for the NDDC, and he was allegedly paid from the NDDC account. The Commission is not administered by one person but a team that was constituted into a Management Board”, Kpokpogri added.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
