As corruption continues to ravage our society, searchlights continue to beam on those involved in the dastardly act and it has become a daily dosage of news for most Nigerians to hear and read of corruption probes, ranging from high profiled charges to low profiled ones, from multiple billions to few millions.
Some top officials of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) have accused the commission’s Managing Director, Williams Makinde, of gross financial misconduct and reckless spending. According a report by SaharaReporters, Williams Makinde was alleged to have squandered a whooping sum of N58 million on end of the year party which happened on 15th of Dec. 2015.
The source made it known that the commission has been having a difficult time paying workers’ salaries for 13 months and it was totally uncalled for for the commission to have spent such a huge amount of money on largesse to journalists.
It was learnt that the cash for the get-together party was pulled out of the commission’s account at Zenith Bank.
Another source claimed that Mr. Makinde spent N8 million to buy bags of rice, oil, and according to a journalist, the commission MD’s special assistant on media, Prince Orhomonokpaye, told a group of reporters in Sapele, Delta State, that the commission had spent N8 million to buy them gifts. He added that, once the media assistant realized he was talking to reporters, he made a swift U-turn, claiming that the gift items had been purchased on credit.
A manager at the commission condemned the MD’s priorities, adding that the commission’s financial condition had worsened since Mr. Makinde assumed office. He said the MD was acting recklessly and running the commission like a private estate business.
The source stated, “Do you that the MD donated a bus to African Independent Television, a private television station in Oghara, even though the state-owned television station lacks vehicles and other tools to carry out their work effectively across the state.”
“The cost for the venue of the end-of-year party was inflated. I know that, normally, the venue [Brown Hill Event Center] is rented out for one million naira. But the MD inflated it to N5 million. On a very good day, the end-of-the-year party should not have cost more than N5 million,” the source said. He accused the MD of conniving with other board members to spend the huge sum of N45 million on the party in addition to wasting N8 million purportedly to buy Christmas gifts for reporters.
It was also gathered that Amaju Pinnick, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), owns the Brown Hill Event Center.
Meanwhile, Mr. Makinde denied lavishing the sum of N50 million on a party and an additional N8 million on gifts for journalists.
