EFCC grills NDDC account director over ‘N25bn fraud’

Eno Ubi Otu, director of finance and account, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), is being grilled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Otu is being questioned over the alleged diversion of N25 billion in tax remittances.

Sources disclosed that the NDDC account director arrived at the EFCC facility on Wednesday, and he is still being held for interrogation.

The arrest was part of a larger investigation of the forensic audit report of the NDDC.

Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s spokesperson, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the arrest.

In 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC’s operations from 2001 to 2019.

While receiving the audit report, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, said the federal government was concerned about the way funds have been spent on the region, adding that “approximately N6 trillion” was given to the commission within the period under review.

In May 2022, the EFCC also grilled Nsima Ekere, former managing director of NDDC.

The circumstances leading to Ekere’s invitation by the commission were said to be linked to him allegedly benefitting from contract funds from projects dating back to 2017.

Ekere was the MD of the NDDC between 2017 and 2018.