Alleged N100m bribe: Akpabio, NDDC interim administrator, Akwa, questioned

Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) says that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the interim administrator of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mr Effiong Okon Akwa, have been duly questioned over allegations of bribing its staff.

N100m was allegedly given to the CCB staff to tinker with a probe that Akwa did not file or declare records of his assets as prescribed by the extant Code of Conduct law with the CCB.

According to reports, staff of Bureau were bribed to smuggle updated records of Akwa’s assets into the relevant files to invalidate claim in a petition that he had not submitted an up-to-date asset declaration form.

The CCB in a statement by Mrs Fatima Kere-Ahmed, Secretary of the Sub-Committee on Allegation against CCB Officials for the Chairman of the committee, titled “Status of the investigation of an alleged case of bribery against certain officials of Code of Conduct Bureau”, said: “Following the investigation of allegations that certain officials of Code of Conduct Bureau were induced to the tune of One Hundred Million Naira, I wish to confirm that Chief Godswill Akpabio and Mr Effiong Okon Akwa, who featured prominently in the petition, appeared before the investigation Committee, were interviewed accordingly and both denied all the allegations.

“The investigation is still ongoing; this is to allow for a fair, thorough and dispassionate enquiry into the allegations, while the final outcome of the investigation will be communicated in due course.”