By Our Reporter
The leadership of the National Assembly (NASS) has been urged to probe its members linked with allegations of corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) before commencing its investigation with the NDDC.
The PDP youths, under the aegis of South South Youth Vanguard, who made the call, said the legislative arm must purged itself of all the allegations before carrying out its probe.
The National Chairman of the youth group, James Efe Akpofure, gave the charge in a statement made available on Friday in Abuja.
It would be recalled that few days ago, the Senate setup a seven-man ad hoc committee to investigate the alleged financial recklessness in the NDDC.
Inaugurating the committee, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, had said that the investigation was to complement the ongoing forensic audit of the commission, which was ordered by the Federal Government.
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) had commended the decision of the leadership of the National Assembly to investigate allegations of mismanagement of funds in the NDDC.
PANDEF also appealed to the legislators not to allow persons with vested interests compromise the probe.
Reacting, Akpofure, who said it was not enough to just probe the NDDC, stressed that “for the National Assembly’s probe to be meaningful, it must go overboard to clear its members’ names from the hands of the the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).”
“As one of the highest arms of government, the National Assembly should probe itself and do the needful.
“It should probe its members facing allegations of corruption in the hands of EFCC before probing the NDDC,” he restated.
According to him, he who must go to equity, must go with clean hands, saying the National Assembly should come out clean before any probe.
“PANDEF should know that not all that glitters is gold. Those who were supposed to take charge and monitor the activities in the NDDC have been looting the commission.
“Some politicians, especially members of the National Assembly, have turned the commission to their ATM and should be probed first before the NDDC.
“That is only the way corruption in the commission can be exposed,” Akpofure concluded.
