The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions in the 8th Senate, Senator Sam Anyanwu, said on Tuesday that he had directed his lawyers to file lawsuits against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Anyanwu, who addressed journalists in Abuja, said he was dragging Akpabio to court for mentioning his name among lawmakers, who had links to the projects awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission in 2018.
The senator, who was also a member of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs in the 8th Senate, denied being a beneficiary of the NDDC projects.
Anyanwu said, “I tried calling him (Akpabio), a couple of times, he has not picked my calls.
“By tomorrow (Wednesday) or Thursday, my lawyers are going to write to Akpabio to retract it or give us the facts after which, if he doesn’t do anything about this, I will take the next step.
“I was shocked that the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs could mention my name that I was awarded contracts.
“I am from Imo State, which is one of the oil-producing states and a member of NDDC; if you remember, it was because of the suffering of the South-East that I moved and sponsored the bill for South-East Development Commission.
“As a member of the committee on NDDC, I attracted projects to my constituency, no contract was ever awarded to me.
“I’m using this medium to call on NDDC to go to my constituency and complete the projects they have started.”
Akpabio had in a letter to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on July 23, linked Senators Peter Nwaoboshi, Mathew Urhoghide, James Manager and Anyanwu, to the contracts awarded by the NDDC in 2018.
All the federal lawmakers he mentioned had, however, denied being beneficiaries of the said contracts.
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