Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has urged President Bola Tinubu to make public the long-suppressed forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), insisting that the document contains damning allegations against former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Wike, who appeared on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme monitored in Abuja on Friday, said he would resign from office if the report does not indict Amaechi as he claimed.
“If what I am saying is not in the document, I will resign as Minister of the FCT. I said I will resign. I don’t worship office,” Wike declared.
The former Rivers State governor made the demand in response to recent allegations from Amaechi accusing him of corruption. Wike fired back, alleging that Amaechi’s wife received a staggering N4 billion monthly from the NDDC to train women in the Niger Delta, a claim he said was captured in the controversial audit report.
“Amaechi’s wife was not an industrialist. She has never been, and that is why I call on Mr President to release the forensic audit of NDDC,” Wike said. “Amaechi’s wife’s company, every month, got N4 billion to train Niger Delta women. That is N48 billion in one year alone, and the forensic audit report is there. Who killed it? It was Malami, then the Attorney General.”
He continued, “Former Attorney General, Malami, killed that document to protect those who were concerned. I’m not just saying what I am saying, let them release the document.”
Wike questioned why the forensic report, which was ordered by former President Muhammadu Buhari and submitted in 2021, has not been acted upon. According to him, the delay in publishing the findings is a deliberate move to shield politically exposed individuals.
“Mr President should help Nigerians. Please, release the forensic audit of the NDDC. I didn’t say the forensic audit was right, but I said, release the report,” he added. “That is how the wife became an industrialist N4 billion every month to train Niger Delta women.”
Wike also criticised Amaechi’s educational background, describing it as “less than average.” He dismissed Amaechi’s claim that a Senator gifted him a Rolls-Royce, alleging instead that the luxury car was given by a contractor handling the bulk of state projects when Amaechi served as governor of Rivers State.
“That car did not come from a senator. It came from a contractor who was executing over 90 percent of projects in Rivers when Amaechi was governor,” Wike alleged.
The minister further claimed that unlike Amaechi, he comes from a wealthy background and does not need to “cut corners” to enjoy a sophisticated lifestyle.
The forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was initiated in 2020 by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, following widespread allegations of entrenched corruption, abandoned projects, and financial mismanagement within the Commission. The audit, which covered NDDC operations from 2001 to 2019, was handled by a team of auditors commissioned to scrutinise over 13,000 abandoned or substandard projects across the nine Niger Delta states.
After several months of investigation, the final forensic report was formally submitted to President Buhari on 2 September 2021 by the then Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, through the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. However, despite the public outcry for transparency and accountability, the federal government has yet to make the report public or act decisively on its findings.
The prolonged silence and inaction by successive administrations have fuelled suspicions of a cover-up, with civil society organisations and stakeholders from the region demanding the immediate release of the audit’s full content
