Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force, Asari Dokubo, has said the N81billion alleged fraud by the interim management committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission is mere pickpocketing when compared with what Nigerians from other regions steal from the country’s treasury.
Dokubo, therefore, enjoined people from other parts of the country, who he said were part of the fat cat contractors in the Niger Delta, to stop vilifying those being accused now of mismanaging the NDDC.
He said they should rather focus on stopping those armed robbers from other parts of Nigeria looting its resources, much of which he said were being derived from the Niger Delta.
Dokubo, who spoke in a video trending on social media, said the N81 billion in question was nothing compared to other funds looted from the Niger Delta by people from the other parts of the country.
He likened the situation to that of a man calling the police to report an incident of pickpocketing while armed robbers are breaking into his house.
Dokubo said, “We are talking about N81 billion being pick-pocketed from Niger Delta while the bulk of our money, our resources is being carted away and we are not talking
“They want me to run after pickpockets and leave armed robbers that are coming into my house. When they talk about (Godswill) Akpabio, tell them about (Abubakar) Malami, when they talk about Joy (Nunieh), tell them about Sadiya (Umar Farouq), when they talk about any senator, tell them about (Ibrahim) Magu.”
The two chambers of the National Assembly have launched separate probes into the alleged mismanagement and financial malfeasance at the NDDC.
President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a forensic audit of the commission’s activities from 2001 to 2019.
But the IMC, which was set up to manage the NDDC in the interim and to supervise the audit, has come under allegations of corruption.