Buhari sacks NDDC boss Pondei who slumped before Reps

NDDC-MD-KEMEBRADIKUMO-PONDEI

President Muhammadu Buhari has terminated the appointment of Kemebradikumo Pondei as acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

The president, according to the statement, named the acting executive director, finance and administration of NDDC as the commission’s interim administrator.

The presidential spokesman attributed the development to what he called the plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of an interim administrator to oversee the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

“He is Mr Effiong Okon Akwa, the Ag. Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the Commission, who is to assume headship till completion of the forensic audit.

“Mr Akwa is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“The development became necessary as a result of plethora of litigation and a restraining order issued recently against the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC by a Federal High Court in Abuja.”

Pondei caused uproar when he appeared to faint as the House of Representatives committee on NDDC grilled him over the commission’s finances in July.