A group of environmentalists under the aegis of Niger Delta Environmentalists, Warri (NDEW) have alleged that members of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission were jittery ahead of the Senate probe.
The group, in a statement by Luke Dombraye, flayed series of paid advertorials, endless press statements and desperate push by individuals to frustrate the Senate probe that is yet to commence.
The group stated that the most vexatious of the advertorials was the one by a group which claimed to be Ijaw Youth Must Move Forward (IYMMF). The environmentalists said the frequency and desperation with which advertorials and press statements were being churned out almost on a daily basis pointed to the fact that both the Niger Delta Minister, Godswill Akpabio and the IMC Chairman, Prof. Kemebradikum Pondei were already jittery ahead of the Senate probe.
The group added that the tacit, but desperate attempts to interfere in the composition of the Senate probe panel by people that are loyal to members of IMC could also suggest an admission of guilt.
“We are not unaware of the desperate moves by already jittery IMC members to put a clog in the wheel of the yet to be inaugurated Senate probe panel. The initial call by their apologists that the senate probe should be made to cover 15 years existence of NDDC and not limited to the six months activities of the Interim Management Committee is a ploy to frustrate efforts to unearth the truths in the N40bn corruption allegation.”
The group condemned what it described as a reckless attack on the National Assembly by paid agents of the IMC.