Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Daniel Pondei, appeared to faint as the House of Representatives committee on NDDC grilled him on Monday.

The committee is in its fourth day of public hearing as it investigates alleged financial misappropriation at the agency.

The controversy had seen strong allegations of corruption traded between the Minister and the former MD of the NDDC, Joi Nunei, who appeared before the lawmakers via Zoom on Friday.

Pondei had been grilled for over an hour when he slowly slumped over his desk, appearing to faint.

Several people present at the hearing rushed to his aid, propping him up and attempting to stabilise him, with the proceedings halted.

He then appeared to be in a seizure with a man holding open his mouth as others held him upright.

After he appeared to regain and lose composure intermittently, he was moved out of the session.

The development led to a brief discussion about the next step to take.

A move to have the session adjourned was shouted before the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Thomas Ereyi-Tobi, called for a 30-minute recess.

Lawmakers investigating corruption allegations in the NDDC had on Friday summoned Pondei and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to appear before them today (Monday) as the country sought to understand how budgetary allocations to the agency had been spent.

This is not the first time an appearance by the NDDC MD before the lawmakers will come to a halt under dramatic circumstances.

The NDDC boss had walked out on the lawmakers on Thursday, last week, after accusing the Chairman of the Committee, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, of being an interested party in the investigation.

He said as long as Tunji-Ojo presided over the investigation, the Commission would not get a fair hearing.

He then refused to make presentations before the committee and walked out.

Angered by the move, the lawmakers resolved to issue a warrant of arrest compelling Professor Pondei to appear before the lawmakers and make a proper submission.

The lawmakers, however, decided to summon him again, and at the start of his appearance, he apologised for his action.

Although he said he “regretted” the incident which happened last week, before he was questioned by the lawmakers, the Chairman of the Committee recused himself from the session, leaving Thomas Ereyi-Tobi, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee to preside.

The acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), had said contrary to reports that the commission spent N1.5 billion on COVID-19 palliatives, the NDDC only spent N1.32billion.

Pondei had in a previous hearing told the lawmakers that the commission spent only N1.5 billion as palliatives for taking care of NDDC staff, but in his latest appearance before the panel, the NDDC boss said he must have not been paying attention when he made the previous declaration.

According to the NDDC chief, the N1.5billion “take care of ourselves” clause which he stated about two weeks ago, was uttered out of anger.

He said, “If I had said take care of ourselves, I must have said that in anger,” Professor Pondei told the lawmakers at the hearing.

The acting MD of the NDDC also answered questions regarding unpaid scholarships, saying he did not hand out any bursary.

He said the commission processed scholarships for the students, went to various universities for verifications after which letters were drafted and estacodes were prepared.

Pondei stressed that the preparation of estacodes began before he joined the NDDC and as such, the procedures for payment were not laid down by his administration.

The MD assured that at the moment the NDDC has commenced processing of payments. He added that within the week, all scholarship backlogs from 2016 will be cleared.

The hearing was brought to an abrupt break after Mr. Pondei appeared to have slumped over his desk, causing palpable panic.

Some lawmakers and representatives from the NDDC rushed to give him first aid, a man held open his mouth as others held him sit upright.

After he appeared to regain and lose composure intermittently, he was moved out of the session.

Two groups have staged protests at the National Assembly concerning the recent happenings in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

One of the groups is championing the continuation of the forensic audit in the NDDC, describing the allegations of corruption against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio as mere distractions to stop the cleansing in the commission.

The second group is, however, demanding that Akpabio and the commission’s Managing Director, Daniel Pondei should step aside pending the conclusion of the National Assembly probe of the NDDC.

These protests were taking place on the sidelines of a House of Representatives investigative hearing on allegations of financial mismanagement in the commission.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, on Monday, said most contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) are awarded to National Assembly members.

The Minister made the comment as he was being grilled by members of the House of Representatives committee on NDDC in a public hearing.

The Minister had been invited by the lawmakers on Friday to defend his actions as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and shed more light on financial misappropriation within the NDDC.

Akpabio’s comment surfaced as he was responding to a question about NDDC expenditure amid a forensic audit.

“We cannot close down the Niger Delta Development Commission because of the fact that we are doing (a) forensic audit,” he said.

“The NDDC plays a vital role in ensuring the peace and security of the region and 90 percent or more of the resources of the country come from there.

“If you close it down in totality all you will have is chaos. You will have a lot of, not just militancy, you will have a lot of insurrection.

“So it is important that people who have gone to court, people who genuinely did jobs should be paid for their jobs. For me, I am not against it because, of course, who are even the greatest beneficiaries? It is you people.”

A member of the committee took him up on his “you people” allegation and asked him to clarify.

“I just told you that we have records to show that most of the contracts in the NDDC are given out to members of the National Assembly,” the ex-Senator said.